A Chippy Kind of Love
by goldpiece
Summary: When a problem arises in Booth and Brennan's partnership, Sweets suggests a radical new treatment to solve the problem, but what happens when that treatment backfires?
1. Chapter 1

_AN: This is an idea that I've been tossing around for a while, and thought I'd finally try to get it down on paper. It's a bit AU, but hopefully it can be done right and will be somewhat amusing for everyone. Please let me know what you think of it, and I'll hopefully be able to get some updates done soon now that I think my drama with California state disability is finally over. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this new story as much as I've enjoyed coming up with the idea._

"I'm sorry, you want us to what," Booth asked as he looked at the young therapist in front of them. Sweets only smiled back, his head resting on his steepled fingers as he watched the partners sitting opposite him. He could see the tension between the pair, and lately it had gotten to the point of disrupting their work. Something had happened to them that kept them from their usual professionalism but neither had filled him in on the occurrence. The only thing he was certain of was that it had something to do with them personally.

"It's an experimental device that will open you up to the feelings of those around you."

"No, absolutely not! I don't need anyone fiddling with my head anymore than they already have thank you very much. Besides, I don't think my doctors would approve of this." Ha. That had to stop this line of thought from progressing, but there was really no way he was going to allow the kid to fiddle with his head anymore than he already tried to do on a daily basis.

"Well it's obvious to me that something's happened with the two of you, and unless you're willing to divulge what it is to me, this is really the only course of action I have to get you to be more open with each other."

"You don't think this is overstepping professional boundaries at all?" He knew the question would come from Dr. Brennan. She didn't seem disinterested in his suggestion, but was wary of the implications.

"Not at all. This isn't some 'experiment' I'm trying to conduct. I'm trying to fix whatever it is that's gone wrong with the two of you."

"There is nothing wrong with us Sweets," Booth protested, drawing the attention of the therapist back to him. Sweets simply quirked up an eyebrow at the two of them and picked up a file from his desk.

"That's not what I've heard from either Dr. Saroyan or Assistant Director Hacker. According to both of them, you were unable to successfully work your last case together and it resulted in a botched arrest in which your main suspect forced a suicide by police. That doesn't sound like nothing to me." He shut the file and looked at their contrite faces. "You two have a unique relationship, and I'm not sure exactly what happened to ruin that, but I would like to fix it."

"How is putting a microchip into our heads going to help?" Brennan fixed her gaze onto Sweets, remaining her usual calm self as she awaited her answer. In truth, she knew what the problem was, but she also knew that there was no way that Booth would want to discuss it with Sweets. In fact, they'd hardly said two words about it themselves so talking to the young therapist wasn't likely to happen.

"This chip will focus your ability to read and understand the emotions of those around you. If you're more aware of the emotional state of others, you'll be more able to work out whatever your problems are between the pair of you. The procedure won't even require any type of invasive surgery. It's just placed under the skin, so no 'poking' around inside of your heads. Come on guys, what do you say?" Sweets watched the partners look at each other, Brennan impassive as always, and Booth with uncertainty in his eyes.

"How long would this chip have to remain in our heads?"

"It would remain there for however long it takes for you two to become more aware of how the other feels about whatever it is that's causing strain on your relationship. Once you're able to grasp the feelings of the other and work through it, then the chip can be removed and we can get your partnership back on track."

"I just don't see how this can help us," Booth said. He'd already had the twerp therapist tell him that his feelings for Temperance were not real, but a result of his brain tumor, and the last thing he wanted was for her to get more mixed signals from him than he'd already been sending out. That was the basis of their problem and he knew it. How was he supposed to protect her if what he was feeling for her suddenly changed during the course of this experiment? No, it was just too risky.

"Well unless you're willing to discuss the problem with me like rational adults, then I'll be forced to suspend your partnership until said problem is worked out."

"You're going to blackmail us into this procedure?" Brennan looked horrified. Granted, the reason she was in a partnership with Booth in the first place was because she'd blackmailed him, but it didn't mean she had to like it done to her.

"Not at all. I'm recommending a course of treatment that will help you. If you're unwilling to work on your issues, then I'll have no choice but to separate the two of you. We can't risk another disaster like this last case to occur."

The pair felt cornered. They either had to talk to Sweets about what was going on between the two of them, or have a chip put in their heads that would only add to the problem.

"Guys, I'm only looking out for your best interests here. I need to know what you want to do, so I know what to put into my report on your status as partners." He watched the two of them struggle silently. It amazed him how two people who were once so in sync with each other were now having a hard time communicating. What was it, he wondered that had happened to bring them to this point so quickly. Two weeks before they'd been fine, but now they had difficulty even sitting on the same couch together. Not only that, but they were as far apart as they could get from each other.

"We don't really have much of a choice in the matter, do we," Booth sighed and scratched at the back of his neck. Better to get this out of the way than to have his partnership with Brennan ended. Sweets just smiled at the pair and turned to his calendar.

"I'll make an appointment for the two of you on Thursday to have the procedure done. Honestly, it'll only take moments for the chip to be placed and then you'll be on your way to resolving your issues. This is a good thing, I promise." Somehow Booth and Brennan couldn't agree with the young therapist.

XxXxX

"I can't believe we agreed to this," Booth growled as he sat in the waiting room of the doctor's office next to his partner. Brennan just looked up at him from her anthropology journal and shrugged.

"You're the one who's been making this more difficult than it is. Personally I'm finding the idea of studying the emotions of others fascinating. I think it could really help with my ability to understand people around me."

"Yeah well I'm just surprised you're looking at it that way and not trying to explain how emotions are just caused by chemicals in the brain and are therefore not real or whatever it is that you always say."

"I'm not discounting that people feel emotions, just that there is a scientific basis behind why we feel them."

"God, I knew this was going to be a bad idea," Booth muttered and crossed his arms over his chest before he turned away from Brennan. Temperance opened her mouth to respond to him, but closed it as they were called into the doctor's office. Both trudged silently behind the perky nurse until they were settled into an examination room.

"Dr. Chan will be with you in a moment," she informed them before leaving them alone in the room. Booth looked around before his gaze settled on a tray with two syringes sporting long needles.

"Not invasive my ass," Booth muttered as the door to the room opened up. The doctor stood there, looking over a chart before glancing up at the pair. She smiled at them and set her chart down on the counter.

"Good afternoon Agent Booth, Dr. Brennan, I'm Dr. Chan. I'll be performing the procedure on you in just a moment, but before doing so, do you have any questions?"

"How invasive is this procedure?" Brennan asked for Booth's sake. If he was going to be a baby about the whole thing then they might as well just get it out of the way now. The doctor smiled at her and leaned back on the counter a little bit.

"Think of this as if we were micro-chipping a pet in case it got lost. It's basically the same thing. The chip is injected just under the surface of the skin and therefore not causing any type of rejection from the body."

"So there shouldn't be any type of side effects to this?" Booth looked at the doctor curiously as she shook her head.

"No, not at all. There might be some slight irritation at the injection site, but that's to be expected. It would be like if you stuck anything into your arm with a needle. The irritation would only last for a short amount of time and then would be gone." She could see the hesitation in Booth's face and smiled to reassure him.

"There's nothing to be worried about Agent Booth. Once the period of time has passed for your treatment with this chip, then removal is just as simple." While he still looked reluctant, Booth sighed and gave a nod of his head.

"Fine, then can we just get this over with?"

The procedure didn't take long as promised, and once both Booth and Brennan were chipped, they left the office. Neither one knew what to expect from the procedure, but there was no huge wave of emotion being sent their way. Booth mused on it as he drove his partner back to the Jeffersonian. Maybe this thing didn't work, he thought, and they could just get the chips removed from their heads.

"I'm sure it just takes a little while for the information to reach our brain," Brennan responded as she looked out the passenger side window. Booth shook his head. There was absolutely no way that she could have voiced what he'd been thinking like that. No way at all.

Temperance turned from the window to look at her partner and frowned. "What are you talking about Booth? You just said that you thought the chip didn't work."

"Bones, I didn't say anything."

"Yes you did, I heard you." What was he going on about, she wondered, you'd think by his reaction that I could hear what was going on in his head. She frowned at him when his eyes went wide with shock.

"And that's exactly what I'm talking about," he said. The two locked eyes as he pulled to a stop at a signal light. What had they gotten themselves into?


	2. Chapter 2

_AN: Okay so this is just to clear up a few things regarding this story. One being an experimental treatment is not an experiment in the way that not telling someone that the person who means the most to them is still alive; second, I do realize that the placement of the chip should be in the central area of the brain due to where the emotional center is housed. I didn't want Booth to have to undergo another brain surgery. Thirdly, if something is affecting these two professionally, it most likely is putting a strain on their personal lives as well. I will eventually get to what is causing a rift between them, but all in good time. I hope this clears up a few things that some reviewers had concerns with, and I do hope that as this is a bit AU you can suspend your disbelief and just enjoy what I have planned. That being said, I hope you enjoy this chapter as it begins to set the stage for how they perceive everything around them. Let me know what you think as I always appreciate the comments._

Booth and Brennan stared at each other, eyes wide and clearly uncomfortable. It was one thing to know what someone was feeling, but to hear what they were thinking? Oh god, Booth thought, how much would they actually hear from people around them? The honk of a horn broke him from the thought and he took off once he noticed the light was green.

Brennan for her part was trying not to think for once in her life. She stared straight out of the windshield willing herself not to have a stray thought. Sensing emotions was one thing, but having your thoughts in the head of another person was an altogether different monster. You'd have to control what you were thinking, and while she could certainly compartmentalize with the best of them, she seemed to lack that ability with the one person who could now hear her inner dialogue. That was what started the problem between them in the first place. She had a definite lack of control around one Special Agent Seeley Booth.

"Bones, we're here," Booth said and turned to look at his partner who appeared completely lost in thought. After a second to realize that he was speaking to her and this wasn't all in her head, she turned to look around, surprised to see that they were in the parking structure of the Jeffersonian. "You want me to head in with you, or are you okay on your own?"

"No, I'm fine. I'll be in bone storage the rest of the day so if something comes up, give me a call." She smiled at him as she opened her door and hastily retreated from the vehicle as he leaned toward her with what was a clear intent to kiss her. As she shut the door, she didn't miss the look of disappointment on his face, and hurried away toward her office. The tension that had grown between them was bad enough without putting so much emotional weight to it. That was really the problem. Though she'd been initially in agreement to the experimental procedure, she really didn't want to know what it was Booth was feeling, especially when she was trying to straighten out how she felt in the process. It was much too complicated. Now however, she realized that it was so much worse when you knew exactly what the other person was thinking. This was confirmed as the whisper of a thought shifted through her mind from the direction of the SUV she'd practically run from. _God damn it Bones, what did I do wrong?_

XxXxX

Booth walked through the halls of the FBI headquarters on his way to his office. He scowled as he thought back to his partner's hasty retreat from his vehicle earlier. What had gone wrong with the two of them. The night they'd had he thought for sure would finally put them in a position to be in a relationship, but instead it seemed to be ruining everything. He scratched at the spot on his head where the chip lay, his frown deepening when he realized that he could feel it just under his skin. Great, now he felt like one of those crazies that claimed they'd been abducted by aliens and had something implanted.

He paused on the way to his office as whispers of words drifted through his head. What was he hearing? It was certainly different from what he'd get from Bones, although he fully expected her to give herself headaches rather than have a stray thought or two drift his way. No this was entirely different... He stopped at the door to his office and concentrated on what it was he was hearing. _Damn, if he wasn't so off limits I'd have him in the back of my car in a heartbeat._ Perotta? Booth turned to see the female agent walking toward him with a file in her hands. He let himself indulge in an internal eye roll as she approached, the tiniest of smirks on her face when she slid up next to him.

"Booth, I was wondering if you could look this over for me and give me your opinion on this case. Hacker just assigned it to me, but something seems off. Maybe we could work on it together?"

"Sorry, but I've got my own caseload to work through. Besides, the grunt work really isn't my thing. Try asking Charlie." He turned to leave but felt the other agent's hand on his arm. He looked at her, eyebrows raised in a questioning manner.

"Okay then if you aren't busy after work, why don't you join me in a drink?"

"No can do. See, if you recall, I'm already taken." With a false smile sent in her direction, Booth shook Perotta's hand from his arm and continued into his office. Once he sat, he swiped a hand down his face. This whole thought thing was going to be a little much, and maybe it was time to pay Sweets a little visit. Emotions he could deal with, but the day to day thoughts of his co-workers wasn't something he wanted inside of his head.

XxXxX

_Maybe she won't notice if I just pretend that nothing happened._ Brennan rolled her eyes as she entered into the Medico-Legal lab and glanced up at the platform. Jack Hodgins and Fisher were both looking way too intent on the work before them to actually be working on it. Normally the two would be tossing comments back and forth at each other, but now they were way too involved in the menial tasks they'd been assigned.

"Hodgins, whatever you did you'd better not have involved my intern," Brennan said as she continued toward her office. She missed the surprised look on his face that she'd known something was up as she continued toward her desk and began to access her e-mail. Now that the case was over, she could concentrate on the consult requests and student work she was so far behind on.

It wasn't long before she was immersed in her work, her mind filtering out the random comments that seemed to be popping up from the two men on the central platform. Maybe if she just stayed busy enough it wouldn't be so hard to keep from hearing what the people around her were thinking.

"Sweetie, are you going to ignore me all day or are you going to look up from your computer at some point?" Temperance looked up, startled to see her best friend standing in the doorway of her office.

"Ange, sorry, I didn't hear you." Brennan frowned as the artist made her way into the office and sat down across from her. Why couldn't she hear Angela like she could Hodgins and Fisher up on the platform?

"Obviously you didn't. You're putting your head into overdrive with whatever the hell it is you're trying to avoid."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't play dumb with me Bren. Something happened between you and Booth and whatever it was you're trying to avoid like the plague."

"I'm not trying to avoid anything. Booth and I are still partners. Obviously we're working together fine."

"No you're not, and stop trying to dodge the subject. That last case we all worked couldn't have been more of a disaster if we tried and it all comes down to the two of you. I want to know what's going on."

"Angela, please just drop it. We're in the process of working it out and I really don't want to talk about it, okay?"

"Fine, I'll drop it for now, but Sweetie, if you need to talk, just let me know, okay?" The artist gave her friend a smile and stood up. "Oh, by the way, how's that microchip thing working?"

"I think it malfunctioned." Angela looked at Brennan with a smirk and put her hands on her hips.

"Really? In what way?"

"Well, what would you prefer to have running through your mind, the thoughts of other people or know what they were feeling?"

"Hmm, interesting thing to think about. I think I'd go with the emotions because there are things that guys think that would just be too...sexist to deal with."

"I concur."

"You aren't going to tell me anything else, are you."

"No, I'm not."

"Fine sweetie, be that way. I'm in my office if you need to talk." With that, Angela left the office, giving a small wave to her friend as she left. As the artist left, Brennan frowned. That's odd, I wonder why I can't hear what she's thinking. Shaking it off, she picked up the phone. It was probably a good idea to call Sweets and let him know that the chip wasn't working so the problem could be corrected.


	3. Chapter 3

_AN: Okay, so I know that people love it when updates come quickly for stories, but over the next few weeks, I'm not sure how quickly I'll be able to get these up. I'm due to pop out a kid in about two weeks but could go at any time. I already have a two year old at home, so I don't have a lot of time right now to write. I hope you understand and will just keep an eye out for my updates. With that, please enjoy this and let me know what you think._

"Guys, don't you think you're over-reacting to this just a little bit?" Sweets looked at the two people sitting across from him. "I mean the chip hasn't been in place a day and already you're complaining about it?"

"You said the chip would allow us to feel the emotions of the people around us, and that's not what's going on," Booth said as he shifted a bit on the couch. He glanced over at Temperance to see her looking stoically ahead. She'd seemed somewhat incensed when she arrived at the FBI building once Sweets agreed to meet with them, but she refused to throw him a bone as to why she was so upset.

"Well what is going on then that would have the two of you so upset?" The psychologist looked from one to the other, waiting for their answer. It was odd that he heard from them both almost simultaneously earlier, and now they both seemed somewhat reluctant to speak. He wasn't exactly surprised when it was Brennan that answered him.

"What the chip is allowing us to experience are the thoughts of the people around us." Brennan's mouth tightened as her thoughts drifted momentarily to her arrival at the FBI building. She stepped into the elevator to head up to Sweet's office and was joined by an agent she'd seen in the building but never met. The man was engrossed in a file and moved to the back of the elevator to give her a bit of space. That was what she'd thought at any rate until the doors shut and the car began to rise to the upper floors. _Mmm, now that's an ass I'd like to tap._ Brennan turned to look at the man, but he was still looking down at the file. With a frown she turned forward again, and just as the doors opened onto Sweet's floor she heard him in her head again. _She has all the cushion for pushin' I'd need._ Never had she been spoken to that way by any male, her level of intelligence always on the forefront of conversations and respect from members of the opposite sex.

"Okay," Sweets responded as he watched the stormy expression on the anthropologist's face, "What kind of thoughts are we talking about here? I mean like, are you getting people's inner dialogue about paying their bills or what?"

"No." This time it was Booth who responded. "I think I had to hear every secretary in the building mentally undress me."

"It's nice to know that I'm not the only one to have overheard some rather crass thoughts," Temperance said as she turned to face Booth for the first time during the session. "I've never felt more...I've always had people respect me because of my level of intelligence, but to hear someone's thoughts about what they want to do to me sexually..."

"Who thought what about you?" Booth said it between clenched teeth and Brennan knew that she shouldn't have brought it up. She should have known it would set him off.

"It doesn't matter Booth. I don't see why you're upset when the same thing occurred to you with all of those women."

"No, it's different Bones."

"How is it different? A sexual thought is a sexual thought regardless of who is thinking it." Booth opened his mouth to respond to Brennan but stopped as Sweets interrupted the pair.

"Guys, I'm going to ask you to give this chip a chance. Think of this as a learning opportunity. What it sounds like to me is that the chip isn't malfunctioning completely. You're only getting emotionally charged thoughts, not everything. Use this as a way to better relate to each other and others. For once you'll know what someone truly thinks of you and you can work with it."

"I want it out Sweets," Booth growled. "My head's been messed with enough, and I don't want to have to deal with the thoughts of other people, you got that?"

"I'll talk to the doctor and see when we can get the chip removed. Until then, just use the opportunity to get to know what each of you are really feeling." Booth scoffed at Sweets' words. _Yeah, this coming from a man who said I don't really love Bones._ It was a moment before Booth realized that Brennan was staring at him, her eyes wide.

"What do you mean," she asked. Booth opened his mouth to respond, but closed it when Sweets addressed Brennan instead.

"Well, people might censor what comes out of their mouths, but they aren't likely to censor how they really feel. Use the opportunity to really get to know what those around you think of you." He slapped his hands down on the surface of his desk and looked back and forth between the two partners. "I'll go ahead and speak to the doctor and call you when an appointment is set up. Until then, I hope you use this as a learning experience. I'll see you later."

Brennan stood and hurried from the room, Booth on her heels. As the door to Sweets' office closed behind them, Temperance spun around to face Booth.

"What did you mean in there?" She had her hands crossed over her chest, trying to keep distance between them. There was no way she could have heard him correctly, but then again Booth wouldn't be one to censor his thoughts with her.

"I'm not getting into this here Bones. You want to talk about it, we'll do it later, but we are not talking about this here."

"When do you propose will be the right time to discuss this?"

"I'll meet you at your place after work today okay? Then we can clear up whatever this issue is between us, okay?" The pair looked at each other for a long time before Temperance finally nodded and left the building. Booth watched her leave and shook his head. _Why is it so hard for her to believe that I'd be in love with her? _After standing in the hallway staring at the closed door to the elevator for a couple of minutes, Booth shook himself from his stupor and headed back to his office. At least this evening they'd be able to talk, and hopefully fix whatever it was that went wrong between them.

XxXxX

"Sweetie, you look a little shell shocked. Care to tell me what's wrong?" Angela stood in the doorway of her best friend's office and watched Brennan as she turned back and forth in front of a mirror, trying to get a better look at her backside. "Bren? You with me here?"

"Hmm? What was that Angela?" Angela shook her head in amusement and came into the office, making herself at home on the couch.

"Wow, something's got you completely thrown. What's going on?"

"Do I have wide hips? I've always assumed that I've had rather comfortable proportions, but I overheard someone think that I have a rather large posterior." Angela snorted with amusement until she realized that her best friend was serious.

"Why on earth would you be worried about your ass? You've got a great figure Bren."

"I realize that, but to have a man think that I had... how did he phrase it, cushion for the pushing?"

"Oh my god, someone actually said that to you? Did Booth totally lay into the jackass?" Temperance moved away from the mirror and joined her best friend on the couch.

"No, he didn't say it, but he did think it, and it's not something I would bother Booth with. I can take care of myself."

"Maybe you can, but how can you not love a man that will defend your honor no matter what?"

"I don't need anyone Angela."

"I didn't say you did. What's got your panties in a bunch sweetie? You're a bit testy today." Brennan looked at her best friend for a moment and let out a sigh.

"Why couldn't Booth just tell me he loves me and be done with it?"

"You make it sound like it's an inconvenience."

"Emotions just get in the way Ange. I'm attracted to Booth as I'm sure he is to me, but to cloud the issue with emotions..." Angela stopped Temperance before she continued on.

"Look, I'm not going to get into this with you. It sounds like something you have to work out with Booth and Booth alone. I get that you're scared of putting yourself out there, but after everything that man has done to show you that he's sticking around for the long run you might want to take a good long look about how you feel about him."

"Feelings are ephemeral..."

"Brennan, I'm serious about this. You try to distance yourself from him and from how you feel. What you did or rather almost did with Booth's boss is a good example of that. Just...whatever is going on in your head, stop it and let your heart guide you for once. When it comes to Booth, you know you can't go wrong." The two women looked at each other before Brennan finally broke eye contact. That was really where the problem lay. She did go wrong with Booth, but wasn't sure how to fix the problem. And now, to top it off, she'd have to discuss it with him that night. _How am I supposed to discuss our problems if I'm not even sure what went wrong?_


	4. Chapter 4

Booth showed up at Brennan's apartment on time, though he was still reluctant to have the conversation he'd come here to have. So Temperance knew that he loved her, but that still gave him no indications about her feelings toward him. Did she feel anything even remotely like what he felt for her, or was it just wishful thinking? She'd said once that it would be inappropriate for them to date because they worked together. Maybe it was just said so that the eight year old would stop trying to get his father a girlfriend, but she didn't have any problems dating his co-workers. Hell, she pretty much told him whenever she did have a date whether or not she had sex with that person or not, and that's not something you would tell someone who was an object of your affection.

The FBI agent sighed and knocked on the door a second time, waiting patiently for his partner to open the door. There was one thing that Sweets was right about. It was time for them to be honest with each other and quit avoiding the subject, no matter how much they didn't want to discuss it. Booth frowned when Brennan still didn't come to the door. What was going on? She agreed to talk to him about this, so why wasn't she at home? He pulled out his phone and dialed her, waiting for a response. It didn't take long in coming.

"Brennan."

"Bones, where are you?"

"I'm at the lab, where else would I be?" Booth let out a frustrated sigh. If this was her in full avoidance mode, he knew that this discussion was already doomed to failure.

"I don't know, I kind of thought you were supposed to be at home so we could talk." There was silence on the line and he waited for Brennan to respond.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize it had gotten so late. Why don't we just agree to discuss this tomorrow..."

"You know Bones, I've never known you to avoid me like this. No, I take that back. You do this every time something forces you to feel. I get that you're uncomfortable with emotions, but you aren't going to avoid this. I'm going to wait here until you get home and then we're going to talk."

"You don't need to do that. I just started on a set of remains..."

"Then work on them tomorrow. We are going to talk." As he flipped the phone shut, feeling slightly guilty that he did so as a whisper of a thought entered his head. _Please don't make me do this tonight._ Well tough, he thought as he sat down outside of her door. I'm not going to wait another night to finally figure out what's going on between us.

XxXxX

Brennan stepped out of the elevator and headed down the hallway of her apartment several hours later. She'd heard his comment after he'd hung up the phone, and wasn't surprised to find him outside her door. In truth, she'd expected him to be waiting inside, but the only time that Booth had ever been in her apartment without her answering the door first was when he came in to get Howard Epps. Temperance looked down at the sleeping agent and smiled briefly. His head rested against his chest as he slept, his body threatening to fall to one side while he slumbered.

"Booth, wake up," she said as she gently shook the sleeping agent. Booth cracked his eyes open slowly and looked up at her, wincing at a pull in his back.

"Bones, what time is it?" He stood and grimaced as the pull intensified. He really shouldn't have sat like that for so long. He'd definitely pay for it in the morning.

"It's late. Come inside. I'm assuming you're not leaving until you get some answers?"

"I just...how did we get here? We've never had problems talking things out before." Booth followed his partner into her apartment and headed to the couch to sit, hoping the cushy piece of furniture would help soothe the ache in his back. Brennan scoffed at him as she sat in a chair near him.

"We don't talk things out, not really. I have problems with emotions and you make these speeches meant to bolster me, but nothing ever happens in regards to them. We've always maintained a professional relationship and yet today in my head I hear you say you love me. How is that talking things out?"

"Let me ask you something Bones. During our last case when we..."

"Had intercourse?" The pair looked at each other and Booth let out a weary sigh.

"Is that how you saw it? What we did was just a release to you?"

"What else would it have been Booth? We were both frustrated with the case and we sought out each other for a release."

"I can't believe that you think I would just sleep with you. I told you once that there were some people that you couldn't just sleep with because there were too many strings. Why the hell would I risk our partnership and friendship for a booty call?"

"So you're saying it meant more to you..."

"Yes god damn it. I'm in love with you Temperance and what happened between us? That wasn't just a release." The two stared at each other for a long time before Brennan turned away from the intense look in her partner's eyes.

"Why didn't you say anything before now?" Their eyes met again and Brennan could see the turmoil there. She'd admit if there was one thing that Booth never did with her, it was to hide his emotions. He might not say what he was feeling, but he'd show it in his eyes. What she saw there made her ache for her partner. She moved from the chair to sit next to him on the couch. He took one of her hands in his, strengthening the connection between the two of them.

"When I woke up from my coma, I wasn't sure which Brennan you were, but there was one thing I did know, and that was that I was completely in love with you. The next thing I know, you left me and I had to deal with recovering on my own. I wanted you there with me, but your skeletons in Guatemala were more important to you."

"That's not true! They told me you'd be okay, so I went to help identify remains..."

"You left me Bones, and I just... I want what we had in that dream, but obviously you didn't. If your skeletons were more important, then I wasn't going to say anything."

"Why didn't you say anything to me? You could have asked me to stay."

"I shouldn't have had to. If you really felt the same way about me that I felt about you, you would have stayed for me. When Sweets gave me the okay to go back to work, the first person I wanted to tell was you."

"That's when I sat on you in my office." Booth nodded and took a breath. He needed to get all of this out now since she was listening to him.

"I saw you there and I knew, just knew that there wasn't anyone else that I'd ever want to be with. It was so hard for me to not tell you right then that I loved you." Brennan frowned at that.

"But you said that you loved me in a professional way. If you didn't feel that way, then why did you say it?"

"Sweets came to me in the middle of our case and showed me some scans done of my brain. He basically said that the areas that showed love were only lit up during my coma and after and that what I was feeling was a result of the coma, not... he said that I had to be absolutely sure that what I felt was real because if I told you and realized that I didn't." Booth shrugged his shoulders and looked down at the ground.

"Then that's why you added your addendum to your confession?"

"I wanted to make sure that I was back to normal before I said anything, and I was about to say it when that clown sprayed me with water. If I couldn't remember that I hate clowns, then how could I have been sure of how I felt? I didn't want to risk it."

"You've felt this way since you woke up from your coma?"

"Longer to be honest, but yes. I've admitted it to myself since then."

"Then why did you not say anything when your boss asked me out on a date?"

"Because you didn't feel the same way. Hell, maybe you still don't, but I wasn't going to stop you if that's what was going to make you happy. Anyway, I did try to stop you, but you insisted that I was a non-entity to you so what was I going to do?" Brennan colored a bit at his words. She had been a bit blunt when she told him that she probably wouldn't even think of him while on a date with his boss. She also felt a bit embarrassed that she'd so blatantly told him that his boss wanted to have sex with her. How could she not have seen that he was that uncomfortable at the time?

"I'm sorry that I made you uncomfortable by dating your boss. Apparently I still don't have the capacity to understand you as well as you do me."

"So I'm right then?"

"Unless you tell me what you think you're correct about I wouldn't even begin to know what you feel you're right about."

"You don't feel the same for me, do you?" He tried to fight off the hurt he was feeling. He'd taken a gamble during their last case to express how he felt for her somehow, but obviously it hadn't paid off. She just saw their experience as a biological release of tension. God, he felt so stupid putting his heart out there like that.

Brennan for her part was stunned by the revelation. She'd always felt a connection with Booth, even when he rubbed her the wrong way at the beginning of their partnership. She never suspected that he would feel love for her, but in retrospect there were so many moments that showed his level of emotion for her.

"I'm not..." Temperance for once wasn't sure how to express what it was she needed to say. "If you're amenable to it, I'm willing to pursue a relationship with you."

The side of Booth's mouth quirked at that. Only his partner would approach a relationship this way.

"I think I could live with that." Brennan squinted her eyes at her partner.

"You're making fun of me, aren't you?"

"Never Bones." He offered her a smile and stood up, wincing at his still sore back. Temperance stood as well with a frown on her face.

"Let me help you out with your back Booth, it's obviously bothering you." Booth stared at his partner for a moment. He wanted nothing more than to have her hands all over him, but he wanted to have a chance to take her on a real date before they tried anything physical again.

"Eh, I'll live. I need to get home anyway; early day at work and all, but why don't we have dinner tomorrow night, say seven o'clock?"

"Sure. Do you want me to meet you somewhere?"

"Are you kidding? What kind of guy would I be if I met you somewhere? I'll pick you up here, okay?" Brennan smiled at her partner and gave him a brief nod. Booth pulled his partner into him and looked down into her eyes. Her answer wasn't quite what he wanted to hear, but he'd take it for now. She had feelings for him, even if she wasn't quite ready to express them. "See you tomorrow, Bones."

Brennan tipped her head up just slightly, waiting for him to meet her lips with his. He was obviously somewhat reticent to touch her at the moment, but there was no way she was reading him incorrectly this time. When his lips touched hers, she knew she was right. There was no way he'd leave with out a goodbye kiss, but neither of them expected the spark of electricity between them to be quite so strong as Booth pulled her in closer and deepened the kiss. _Jesus, if just a kiss is this explosive after what we've had together, what's it going to be like the next time we touch?_


	5. Chapter 5

_Ah god, I should have let Bones fix my back._ Temperance opened her eyes and frowned at the thought whirling around her head. The evening before had been wonderful after the discussion she and Booth had, though he was reluctant to engage in intercourse with her. Now she wondered if it had anything to do with his back being sore. It was odd really to hear him groaning in her head when up until that point she'd only ever heard thoughts. She shook her head. Great, now the fact that she could hear thoughts in her head seemed somewhat normal, but the moans and groans seemed odd.

She frowned again as she got up out of bed. If she was hearing something that was an indicator of pain, maybe the chip was picking up on more than just thoughts. Maybe it was going to pick up on anything related to emotions or physical sensation. With that, a smirk crossed her face. It would be odd to know whether or not someone had been satisfied sexually just by hearing them in your head. With a long stretch, she padded down the hall to her bathroom for a shower.

As she adjusted the water temperature and stepped under the spray, her eyes widened and she grinned. This chip could come in handy during a murder investigation. They could figure out who the murderer was right away. Hmm, maybe she should mention this to Booth and see what he thought. Or would that be completely unethical because it would be intruding on private thoughts. This could bear for some more thought, but she'd still bring it up to her partner.

She smiled as she thought of Booth. They were finally going to move their relationship on to another level, which admittedly she never thought they would do and though they'd yet to have even an official date, she was unusually excited about the new side to their relationship. It would be odd to know that she didn't have to censor her thoughts about her partner, and that she could be open about her feelings for him. She didn't want to say that she loved him just yet, but she did care about Booth deeply and looked forward to being intimate without any repercussions. Temperance let her thoughts wander a little bit as she finished her shower, wondering just how much of her thoughts would be finding their way to Booth.

_Hmmm, time for a little experiment. _Brennan concentrated as she kept her thoughts centered on her partner, smiling as the image of him in the gray three piece suit, his jacket off and the buttoned up vest on. _Booth was made to wear that suit. The vest accentuates his structure quite nicely. I've always wanted to unbutton it and run my hands over his pectorals._ She smiled at the images conjuring in her head as she stepped out of the shower to finish getting ready for the rest of her day. She was truly looking forward to whatever Booth had planned for them that evening.

XxXxX

Booth groaned and tried to roll out of bed. Temperance had said that his back wouldn't agree with his vigil outside of her apartment the night before, and she was right. Granted, it had hurt more in the past, but he had a date to plan for the evening and didn't need a sore back getting in the way of things. Not that he planned on having anymore rigorous activities afterwards, but that didn't mean that he couldn't enjoy the date. The question, he thought as he made his way slowly to the bathroom, was what to do on said date. If his back didn't ease up, then anything rigorous was out of the question. There was no way he was going to make the situation worse.

Dinner could be nice, but the places he wanted to take her were impossible to get into and he really didn't want to use her celebrity status to be able to get a reservation. No, he'd have to set something up for a future date because he was determined to get into a nice place without exploiting her. What to do then? Their usual hangouts were out of the question. There was no way he was going to take her to Founding Fathers for a date the way his boss had, and even Sully had taken her to the Royal Diner a couple of times. Oh well, he thought as he made his way into the shower, he had all day to come up with something good.

As he scrubbed his hair and body, he let his mind wander over what he knew about Brennan. There had to be something they could do that would be a good date for her. His thoughts drifted around the information he knew about her until it settled on a few different memories.

_"What would you normally be doing, you know if we weren't..."_

_"I'd go to dinner and dancing, spending time with the people I care about."_ If only he'd been single at the time. While he certainly wasn't in love with her back at the beginning of their partnership, he'd been incredibly attracted to her. It was part of the reason that Tessa had decided that they just weren't ready to move on in their relationship.

Booth turned in the shower, letting the hot water spray down onto his back, the stinging pulse of the shower head massaging his aching lower back just a little bit. Maybe that's what they could do. He'd take her out to dinner, and maybe they'd go dancing after. He knew the perfect place to take her. There was great food, latin music and sexy dancing if the mood struck. Oh yeah, that would work nicely. With a grin, he hurried along to finish so he could get to work. There was no way he was going to be late today.

XxXxX

"Booth, what are you doing here," Brennan asked as she returned to her office after a trip to bone storage. She looked at her partner sprawled out on her couch, his hands on his stomach and feet up on one of the arms. Her heart beat just a little harder as she noticed he was wearing the gray suit. "Do we have a case?"

"No. I brought over some paperwork that needs signing." Booth sat up, groaning all the way as his back pulled again. Brennan crossed her arms and looked at him, one eyebrow raised.

"Are you going to allow me to fix your back now?" The two looked at each other for a long moment before Booth sighed and gave her a nod. Brennan smiled and approached him, signaling for him to lay face down on the couch. "After all this time, I'm honestly surprised that you still don't trust me to manipulate your lumbar vertebrae back into place."

"It's not that I don't trust you, it's... you know what? Never mind." Booth shook his head and settled down on the couch. He let out a woof of air as Brennan swung a leg over his back and straddled his hips. _Jesus, it's a good thing I'm on my stomach._ The FBI agent shifted slightly to get more comfortable, unable to see the smirk on Brennan's face as she rolled her hips slightly, torturing him just a little bit more.

"Don't worry Booth, this won't take very long, and don't worry, you're having a completely normal physiological reaction to my positioning on you."

"You know," Booth said with a groan, "it's probably a very good thing we won't have these chips for long."

"I've been thinking about that Booth, and I don't think we should get them removed."

"What? Why not?" Booth groaned as Brennan pressed down onto his back, feeling for the stubborn vertebrae.

"Think of what it could mean for our investigations. We would know who the killer was as soon as we started questioning them." He could hear the excitement in her voice as she thought about the possibility of catching criminals in the act.

"No thank you. I don't need some murderers thoughts in my head. The grieving family would be bad enough, but to have to deal with that too? No way."

"Hmm, I suppose you have a valid point, but I still think it would have some validity to our work. Now hold on because this could hurt."

Angela walked past the doorway to Brennan's office, looking over a file on a three dimensional rendering she'd worked on for the archaeology department at the museum. Just as she passed the doorway, she heard a very masculine sounding groan. With a frown, she looked up and into the office. Her jaw dropped as she saw her best friend on the couch, her bottom lip between her teeth and head back slightly.

"Ow, Jesus Bones, what are you trying to do to me?"

Angela's eyes grew wider as she was rooted to the spot. _Oh my god! She's with Booth? Wait, she's having sex with Booth in plain view of the lab?_

"Relax Booth. If you're tense then there's no way I can push this into place."

"How the hell am I supposed to relax when you're jabbing at me like that?"

"I am not jabbing at you, I'm merely attempting to make you feel better, but you're so tense that it makes the process painful." Temperance pushed forward a bit with a bit of a grunt. Angela's mouth dropped open, and she was unable to move from the spot. _Oh my god is she using a..._

Booth's head shot up from the couch just as Brennan popped his back into alignment. He turned to look at her, his eyes wide and cheeks flaming.

"Do you feel better now? I told you it would go much smoother if you relaxed."

"Bones, get off of me, now!" He scrambled to get up even as Brennan was trying to climb off of his back. She fell to the floor with a thump as he backed away from her quickly.

"What is wrong with you?" Brennan frowned and when she heard laughing coming from just outside her office, she turned to find the source. Angela's head was thrown back, tears streaming from her eyes as she held herself up against the glass wall of the office.

"Oh thank god nothing was going on in there," Angela gasped between breaths.

"Of course nothing was going on. I was merely attempting to adjust Booth's back."

"Yeah, I get that now sweetie, but trust me when I say that's not what it sounded like."

"I don't understand, what did it sound like?" Brennan frowned and drew her eyebrows together trying to think of how the conversation could have been misinterpreted.

"She uh, she thought you were using, you know, a sex toy on me," Booth whispered as Angela began to get her laughter under control.

"Oh! No, I was merely trying to align the vertebrae in Booth's back."

"See, this is exactly why these chips in our head aren't good for us."

"Yeah, uh huh. Look, I have to get this report to Dr. Landsea for the new bronze age exhibit he's heading, so I'll leave you two alone." She gave them a little wave, still laughing a bit as she walked away. Booth and Brennan looked at each other, each with slightly pink tinged cheeks.

"So, what was it you were here for again?"

"Oh, sorry, I have some paperwork I need you to sign off on. I put the files on your desk." Brennan gave Booth a tight lipped smile and moved to her desk to sign the required forms. "Listen, about tonight..."

"You aren't cancelling are you?" The two looked at each other, and Booth could see disappointment in her eyes. He gave her a reassuring smile and shook his head.

"No, I'm not planning to cancel. Just wear something...sexy."

"Why, what are we going to do?"

"Uh uh, I'm not telling. You'll just have to be surprised. The only thing you need to know is that it's going to require us to get very close." With another smile to his partner, Booth grabbed the completed paperwork and left the office. Brennan watched him leave and let out a breath she wasn't aware she was holding. They were going to get close were they? With a smirk of her own, Temperance sat down at her desk to get back to work. If he wanted her to wear something sexy, then he wouldn't know what hit him.


	6. Chapter 6

Booth left Brennan's office with a smile on his face and a bit more spring in his step. He waved to Cam as he left, whistling. Cam looked at him with eyebrows raised, watching him leave the lab. _Well, someone's pleased with themselves. If I didn't know better I'd think he and the doc finally got together._ Seeley turned to look at his long time friend and gave her a wink. Right now, nothing could dampen his mood. Cam smiled and approached him, looking him over with an appraising look.

"Wow big guy, I haven't seen you with that look in quite some time. What's going on?"

"Nothing you need to worry about. I'm going back to work now so…"

"Are you together with the doc?" Booth smiled at Cam as he turned back toward the doors of the lab.

"I'll see you later Cam." He left the building, whistling the entire time. The pathologist watched him leave and shook her head in amusement. She headed back to her office, pausing outside of Angela's as she heard the artist talking to Jack Hodgins.

"I swear to you Jack, I thought there was something kinky going on in that office. You should have heard that conversation."

"What conversation," Cam asked as she stepped into the artist's office. Angela turned to look at her and grinned.

"Let's just say that Booth and Brennan have finally made amends." Cam nodded and made her way over to the couch and sat down next to Jack.

"I thought so. Booth just left here looking way too pleased with himself."

"Angie thought that he and the good doctor were getting it on in her office." Cam's eyebrows rose again.

"There's no way either one would allow that. What on earth would make you think that?" Angela grinned and sat down on the edge of her desk, clutching her work pad for the Angelator.

"I was walking by her office, and all I see is Bren from the chest up, and she's telling Booth to relax or it's going to hurt more."

"Oh baby, I'd pay good money to have seen that," Jack chortled while Cam shook her head.

"Please, as if Booth would go for something like that. The man's not a prude, but he has very definite limits sexually."

"Who has limits sexually?" The group startled and looked to the doorway of the office. Brennan stood there with her arms folded, her expression curious as she waited for an answer to her question. She frowned however when she hear Hodgins' voice in her head. _Dude, I'd let her backdoor me anytime._

"Um, no one sweetie, it's not important. Did you need something?"

"I was looking for Cam and was directed here." Brennan turned from Angela to look at her boss. "I'm heading over to the J. Edgar Hoover building. I have something to discuss with Dr. Sweets, and if it's okay with you I'll be taking the remainder of the day off."

"No, it's fine with me. You aren't working on anything pressing at the moment, so it's okay." Brennan nodded and turned from the office to head out. Angela followed her out of the office and toward the doors of the lab.

"Bren, wait." The anthropologist stopped and waited for her friend to catch up. "Why are you taking the day off?"

"I'm not sure how long I'll be in with Dr. Sweets today, and I have a date to prepare for this evening, although I don't even know where it is that I'll be going."

"Okay, so I'm assuming that you're upset with Sweets by the way you keep using his title. What's going on sweetie?"

"He gave some information to Booth which I believe helped contribute to our recent misunderstanding and I'd like to discuss that with him."

"Uh-huh, sure Bren. Just go easy on him, okay?"

"Why would you think that I'd try to harm him in any way?"

"Oh please. You pushed Jared off a barstool once because you were mad at him, and you punched Booth at his fake funeral. If you're upset with someone, you tend to act before you think. Anyway, I'm more interested in this date you have with Booth tonight."

"I never said that my date tonight was with Booth." Angela scoffed at her friend's words.

"If it's not with Booth then someone needs to knock some sense into you. I saw the two of you together in your office. No way are you all over him that way and seeing someone else."

"I admit that we do in fact have a date tonight, but he wouldn't tell me where we're going. I don't like surprises and he knows that."

"Well yeah, but it's also Booth so regardless it should be one hell of a night." Angela grinned at her friend and waggled her eyebrows just a little bit. Temperance smiled and shook her head at her friend.

"I find that I am in fact hoping that we end up having sex at the end of the night."

"I don't know, Booth doesn't strike me as the sex on the first date kinda guy."

"It's not as if we haven't slept together before." Angela's eyes went wide and Temperance clamped a hand over her mouth. _I shouldn't have said that._

"Be kind, rewind sweetie. Are you telling me that you've had sex with Booth before and didn't tell me?" At the look on Brennan's face, a realization dawned on Angela. "Oh my god, that's why you've been so weird around each other, isn't it?"

"Ange, I don't have time to talk about this right now."

"Oh no, you're not getting out of this conversation."

"I'm not trying to, but I need to get over to Dr. Sweets' office. Please Angela, don't make a big deal out of this." The artist could see that Temperance was beginning to get a bit distressed over the situation. Pushing her at this point wouldn't do any good, so the only thing to do at the moment was to drop the subject.

"Fine, go, but you'd better spill everything tomorrow. You don't just drop a bombshell like that and expect it to go by unnoticed."

"I promise, we can discuss it tomorrow, but I really need to go." Angela nodded and watched her best friend high tail it out of the lab. She shook her head and headed back to her office to finish up her work for the day. How she'd managed to miss that one was a mystery, but all would be revealed, so she could wait just a bit longer before interrogating her best friend.

XxXxX

_Man, Booth is a lucky man to be tapping that._ Brennan glared at the FBI agent passing her in the hallway. She really had to wonder about the quality of people hired by the Federal Bureau of Investigations if every male that she encountered had some sort of sexist thought about women. To be honest it was getting annoying. That was one thing she truly appreciated about Booth. She knew that he was a red-blooded alpha male type, and had even caught him checking other women out, but never did he make them seem like objects as some of these other men did.

Temperance turned a corner, heading directly for Sweets' office when she ran into Andrew Hacker. He looked down at her, surprised to see her in the building.

"Temperance, it's always a pleasure." He smiled down at her, expecting her to return it, but dropped the expression when it was obvious that she wasn't going to do so. In fact, she looked as though she were expecting something rude to come out of his mouth. "Is there something wrong?"

"Wrong? Not exactly."

"Not exactly? Are you and Booth still having problems?" _Please say you're having problems. That guy is way too hard to compete with._ Brennan narrowed her eyes at Booth's boss and crossed her arms over her chest.

"No, Booth and I have worked out the misunderstanding we were having."

_Damn it. _"Well I'm glad to hear that. There's nothing harder than trying to maintain a professional relationship when there are unresolved issues involved. It's nice to know there won't be anymore cause for alarm when you're working cases."

"Andrew, I appreciate the concern, really, but I have a schedule to keep…"

"Of course, of course. Please excuse me." He smiled again at her, but stopped her as she turned to continue toward Sweets' office. "I was thinking since our date was interrupted and we've never rescheduled that perhaps you'd like to join me for coffee?"

"Normally I would be very interested, but I am beginning a relationship and it wouldn't be fair to my romantic interest."

"Ah." _Someone's a lucky bastard. _"Well, have fun on your date and I'll see you around." He offered her another smile and began to walk off.

"For what it's worth Andrew, you're a very nice man and were I not committed to this new relationship I would love to have coffee with you." She offered a slight smile to the Assistant Director and the two headed on their way. Her smile grew a little when she reached Sweets' door. It was nice to know that her taste in men did seem to be improving. There really was nothing bad that Booth could say about Andrew other than that he was his boss. Now that she was beginning a romantic relationship with Booth, he couldn't put himself into the category of loser men either. Her stomach clenched for a moment at the thought of Booth as a loser. She still felt guilty that she'd ever even entertained the thought that he was less of a man than his brother.

Shaking the memory from her mind, she opened the door to the psychologist's office and stepped inside as he looked up in surprise.

"Dr. Brennan, do we have an appointment?" Sweets took in the impassive look on her face and gulped. _God, I hate that look. I can never quite tell what's going on when she looks like that. _Brennan quirked up one eyebrow at the young doctor as she continued to look at him.

"What did you tell Booth about his brain scans?"

"He told you about them?"

"You told him that he wasn't in love with me, and yet that was the conclusion of your book. Tell me Dr. Sweets, was this another one of your experiments?" Sweets winced at the tone in which she said his name. He cleared his throat before answering the incensed anthropologist.

"I was trying to protect both of you. His brain scans showed that before his coma he wasn't in love, but during and after the coma he was. My conclusion was that the world you created for him by reading your novel out loud led him to feel that way."

"So you told him to doubt his feelings? How were you able to get licensed to practice?"

"Dr. Brennan, please calm down…"

"No, I'm not going to calm down! You had already concluded that we were in love with each other and yet you tell him that his feelings aren't real? How is that not an experiment with our emotions? How is this chip you insisted we get placed in our heads not an experiment as well?"

"I didn't tell him that his emotions weren't real, I merely cautioned him to wait and express them when he was certain they were genuine and not a side effect of his brain surgery. I was concerned that if he told you how he felt and later realized that he didn't in fact feel that way, it would be detrimental to you."

"You made him take it back!"

"What are you talking about?"

"The first case I worked with Booth after you cleared him for duty, he told me he loved me in an 'atta-girl' kind of way just after he realized that he didn't remember his dislike of clowns. You made him doubt himself and in turn made him doubt me."

"I…"

"No! You are going to apologize to Booth, and you're going to get these damn chips out of our heads, do you understand?"

"Yes Dr. Brennan."

"Good. And I trust you'll never try to experiment on us again. We agreed to keep seeing you after our mandatory therapy began. Let's not forget that we can stop being your research subjects at any time." Sweets just nodded and watched as Brennan turned around, slamming the door behind her. _Wow, she's wicked scary when she's angry._ The door opened up again as Brennan glared at the psychologist.

"And for the record, you've yet to see me angry." Sweets blanched at the comment and as the door swung shut again, he gulped.

"Right, we'll get those chips out ASAP."

_AN: Yeah okay I wanted to put the date in here, but I kind of want that to be in its own chapter so we'll be seeing it next time. I look forward to hearing what you have to say though so let me know what you thought of this chapter._


	7. Chapter 7

_AN: FYI, I'm using portions of my story called 'the anatomy lesson' that I wrote a couple of years ago. I thought it would be fun to use in this chapter, and I did make some changes so it's not the same, and there's a lot of stuff added before and after as well... so obviously it's quite different. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. Let me know what you think._

As Brennan made her way out of the FBI building, her phone rang. She checked the caller id and sighed as she noticed it was Cam on the line. What part of leaving early for once did they not get at work? Brennan answered the call, grumbling a little.

"Brennan."

"Oh good, I was afraid you weren't going to answer. Those remains you've been waiting for, the ones from Hungary just arrived." Temperance paused as she reached her car. There were several hours before she was supposed to meet Booth for their date that she was still in the dark about. Maybe she could just go take a look at the remains and still leave with enough time to get ready for the date.

"I'll be back in a few minutes, I'm just leaving Dr. Sweets' office now."

"Okay, well just hurry. The powers that be want these remains authenticated as soon as possible, and your evening activities don't exactly matter to them in cases like this."

"Well, I'll do what I can on them today, but I have an engagement this evening that I intend to keep."

"Hey, so long as the board is happy, then I don't care what you do with your evening," Cam said as way of parting. Brennan looked at the time again. It was just after one, and while she'd planned to get a manicure and pedicure before having to get ready, she figured that she could forgo the pleasure this once and have the work done later. For now, she wanted to get back to work and look over the fascinating remains that were waiting for her.

Temperance Brennan stood at the examination table looking over the remains laid out before her. The entire lab was silent save the sound of the pounding of rain on the glass roof above. Thunder clapped overhead, startling her from her work.

"Why am I not surprised to find you here?" At the sound of the voice, Brennan jumped and turned around to face her partner, Seeley Booth.

"Booth, you startled me."

"I'm assuming that you've forgotten about the date we had for tonight?"

"Oh, I am so sorry. I guess time just got away from me." She offered him an apologetic smile, somewhat embarrassed that she had completely lost track of the time. Booth shook his head and produced two bags from behind his back.

"You know, I'd rather hoped our first date would have been at an actual restaurant, and not here, but knowing your interest in your work, I thought I'd bring dinner here."

"You didn't need to do that you know."

"I realize that, but you have to eat at some point, and I'm guessing at this hour, the lounge is free."

"I'm guessing you're right." Brennan pulled off her latex gloves and the pair left for the lounge overlooking the lab. As they sat down and spread out the food before them, Booth couldn't help but chuckle a little at his partner. She looked at him, slightly concerned. "What's so funny?"

"You are. I've never seen someone who could get so wrapped up in their work."

"You make it sound like a bad thing. I just love my job, that's all."

"If only I could get that much attention from you. What is it you find so fascinating about a pile of bones?" Booth picked up some food and took a bite. Brennan looked at him thoughtfully as she chewed on her own dinner.

"Each set of remains tells me a story about who that person was in life. When I look at bones, I don't see who they are in death, but what they were while they lived."

"Amazing."

"Not really. You just have to know what you're looking for. It's probably no more difficult than what you do, reading subtle indicators in behavior to get a sense of whether someone is lying or not."

"I wouldn't say that's exactly what I do."

"Oh but it is. What you classify as using your gut is really just observation of human behavior."

"Okay. I'll make a deal with you Temperance. If you can teach me a little about what you do, then I'll teach you how to do what I do."

"Sweets already tried that, and as I recall, the attempt turned out badly."

"Ah, but you're forgetting two things Bones. I'm not Sweets, and you have the advantage of hearing thoughts to go along with your observations; so what do you say?"

"I'm amenable to that." She offered him a smile, which he immediately returned.

"Good. Then how's about we get started after we finish eating."

"Sure." Brennan looked up at Booth one last time before turning back to her food. Booth watched her for a moment and shook his head. _This ought to be interesting_, he thought before he too returned to his meal. Brennan glanced at him with one eyebrow arched.

"What, you don't think I can do this?" Booth looked up at her, eyes wide and innocent.

"Did I say anything?"

"No, but you thought it."

"Look Bones, if I didn't think you were capable of this then I wouldn't have made the offer." She looked at him for a long moment before giving him a nod of her head.

"Fine, I accept your argument." He chuckled as she took a bite of her dinner. "What did you have planned for the evening? I found myself rather frustrated that you didn't seem to have a thought about it one way or another."

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to not think about something that you're looking forward to?"

"I can generally contain my enthusiasm when required." Booth looked at his partner and sighed. _Of course you can Bones._ Brennan glanced up at Booth and frowned. "Will you stop that? I don't like hearing sarcasm from you in my head."

"Sorry."

"I would prefer that anything you would think you'd actually say out loud." Booth laughed at that one. "What's so funny?"

"Just trust me when I say that there's quite a bit that I think about you that I would never say out loud at least when there's company around."

"What do you... oh." Temperance blushed as the realization of what he was saying flittered through her head and found herself somewhat aroused at the idea. _Oh Booth, if you only knew the things that I think about._ The agent in question simply smiled and worked on his food, both of them now in a comfortable silence as they finished up their dinners.

XxXxX

"All right," Booth said, rubbing his hands together. "How do we get started with this?"

"Well, it's certainly not something you can learn in a day, but we'll see what we can cover."

"Okay, I'm all ears professor." Booth stepped up behind Brennan as she snapped on a pair of gloves, the sound echoing through the quiet lab under the sound of the rain splattering on the roof above. Booth shivered a bit as Temperance became all business. _Jesus, is it wrong to get turned on by the sound of snapping latex?_

"The first thing that must be done is to sex the skeleton." Booth looked up sharply at his partner.

"I'm sorry?"

"We have to sex the skeleton. Booth, if you're not going to pay attention..."

"No, I'm good, it's just... sex the skeleton? How exactly do you do that?"

"Two areas give a definite indication of sex. The easiest way to identify whether remains are male or female is by the pelvic girdle." Brennan pointed to the bones and felt Booth grab hold of her hips as he leaned in over her shoulder. She paused for a moment in her explanation. As close as she and her partner had been getting of late, she had never been this close to him inside of a work environment. He was pressed completely flush against her as he waited for her to continue. After taking a breath, she continued on. "Do you see here how the shape of the pelvic girdle is somewhat rectangular?"

"Yes."

"That shows that these remains are for a female. Male bones are much more triangular in shape."

"What was it you said a while back about a pregnant woman…something about her hips?"

"The ileum spread to make room for an infant's head." Brennan put her hands over Booth's and guided them to the correct part. Slowly, he massaged over her skin with his thumbs, neither saying a word for a long moment.

"And, um, how else can you know if you're looking for a girl or not?" Booth almost breathed the words. Temperance took in a gulp of air and closed her eyes as he continued the whisper light touches. _Mmmmm that feels wonderful._

"From the, uh, skull." Brennan opened her eyes and picked up the skull. "Do you see how the brow ridges here are not pronounced?"

"Not really." Brennan set down the skull and took off one latex glove. She turned in Booth's arms to face him. Slowly, she reached up and ran her fingers over Booth's eyebrows.

"Males have distinct brow ridges here, while on females, it's much less pronounced. Here, feel." She moved her hand away from Booth's face, waiting for him to feel the bone structure. Slowly, Booth reached over and caressed her skin and onto her brows. _God Bones, you are so damn beautiful_. Temperance closed her eyes at the gentle sensation, her cheeks flushing at his honest thought. Smiling, he leaned over and gently kissed her cheek.

"And this?"

"The um, it's…" she trailed off as Booth continued a path from her cheek and down onto her neck. Brennan placed her hands on his chest, slightly gripping the material of his shirt.

"Wait, I know this one. It's the collar bone," Seeley murmured against her skin, nipping gently on the bone.

"Clavicle," she whispered. _I need to get back into control. If anyone ever would have said Booth would seduce me over a set of remains... _The situation was quickly getting out of control, and the last thing she wanted was to have some unbridled encounter with Booth caught on film. "I thought you wanted to learn about the skeletal structure."

"I do," he said against the hollow of her throat. "I want to learn as much about Bones as possible."

"Okay then," she gulped as she gently pushed away from him and turned around. After taking a breath to calm her racing heart, she began again. "The frontal lobe on women is much more globular while on men it slopes." She took another breath as Booth reached around and slowly massaged her temple.

"How can you tell age? That's always been fascinating to me."

"Bone fusion and suture lines show age. I'd need to see a skull or the pelvic bones to accurately check age." Brennan pointed to the suture lines on the skull before them as Booth ran his fingers through her hair. "Booth…" she breathed, feeling her partner stiffen behind her. _Man, I've never been so hot for someone. _He brought his lips close to her ear, speaking next to her skin.

"Yes Bones?"

"We shouldn't…I mean…have you been paying attention at all?"

"I'm hanging on your every word."

"Okay. Then what do you see here?" Brennan reached down with her gloved hand and picked up a vertebra. Booth looked at it from over her shoulder, his gaze searching over the surface of the bone.

"Are those knicks?"

"Yes, most likely from a knife slicing through the throat." Brennan set the bone down and felt Booth's lips along the back of her neck.

"How do you know it was a neck bone? What's the difference?"

"There are three regions, the cervical, thoracic and lumbar." As she pointed to the different regions, Booth traced his hands down her back until his arms encircled her waist. His hands moved slowly up her abdomen, stopping about halfway up as she let out a shuddering breath.

"You haven't talked yet about the sternum and ribs." Brennan gasped as Booth ran his hands up her sternum and along her ribs, fingering the bones gently as his hands passed along the skin. She was beginning to tremble under his touch though he avoided touching her breasts, his skilled fingers passing just under and to the side of them. _Oh, we really need to stop._

"I was thinking maybe we could save that for another lesson." Temperance turned her head and met Seeley's lips for a kiss. His maneuvered his over hers, manipulating their soft surface as he flicked his tongue against them, tasting her. She reached behind him, burying her ungloved hand into his hair to draw him closer to her. As the two pulled apart, Booth looked at her, their gazes locking.

"I'm thinking you might be right." He pulled her hand from his head and grazed its palm with his teeth, causing an involuntary moan to escape her. "We can save things like hands for another time." All that Temperance could do was nod. He kissed her palm, and then moved away toward the stairs of the platform. "I'll pick you up tomorrow at nine for your first lesson in reading people." With that, he left the lab, glancing back at her once and winking. As Brennan watched him go, she tried to compose her flushed state of mind. _How in the world is he able to put me in this state of arousal when we haven't even engaged in any intercourse?_

Booth blew out a breath as he left the Jeffersonian, his hands in his pockets to help hide the rather obvious bulge in his pants. He'd intended on taking her to dinner and dancing, but this was so much better, and so damn frustrating too. _Man, I need a cold shower. _He glanced back at the building as he headed across the grounds to the parking structure and sighed. _Why the hell am I torturing myself like this? I could be with her right now, or on the way to one of our places together, and instead I'm walking away from what I'm sure would be an incredible night together. God, I'm such a masochist._

From her place on the platform, Temperance smiled. So he was holding out on sex was he? _Well he'd better be prepared tomorrow, because I'm not going to go through another night like this._


	8. Chapter 8

_AN: Okay so I know there's been a delay in my updating this story, but having to return to a full time job and raising two boys under the age of three takes up most of my time. I hope you enjoy this. I wanted the date to be a bit steamy, but in the end it didn't quite turn out the way that I wanted it. It's much more contemplative in nature. Regardless, I'd like to know what you think so please give me a word or two on your thoughts at the end._

"So Sweetie, how was your date with Booth?" Angela asked as she sauntered into Temperance's office. Brennan looked up at her friend and smiled.

"We didn't actually go out last night. I got caught up in the remains I was examining and forgot the time." Angela looked at her friend, utterly shocked at Brennan's actions. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before she finally sputtered out a response.

"Are you trying to screw this up before you even start it?"

"It was fine Ange. Booth brought dinner and I gave him a lesson on the skeletal structure."

"I'll bet you did," Angela snorted and sat down on the couch, crossing her arms over her chest. "So you have to tell me about the two of you knocking boots. When exactly did that happen?" Brennan sighed and leaned back in her chair a bit.

"It happened during our last case. We got into an argument that got heated and the next thing we knew, we were in bed together."

"And? How was it?"

"It was... satisfying. I'm quite curious about how the implanted chip will effect our next sexual encounter." Temperance pressed her thighs together as her thoughts turned to the night before and Booth's hands all over her as she pointed out the bones to him. Truth be told, she'd never been so turned on without inevitably ending up in bed with someone.

"God, you'd end up with someone who could literally read your mind. They'd be able to know how they were doing... conversely, you'd know exactly what they thought of you... maybe it's not such a good thing." The two women shared a laugh and Angela pulled herself up off of the couch.

"Well, hopefully I'll find out tonight. We're going on the date we missed last night, although I still don't know where he's planning to take me."

"Just relax and enjoy it whatever you do." With that, the artist offered a smile to her friend and left the office to get to her own work. Temperance turned back to her computer as she finished up the report on the Hungarian remains.

XxXxX

Booth sat in a meeting, rather bored out of his mind as the thoughts of other people swirled around in his head. It actually amused him quite a bit as he listened in on the inner workings of his female co-workers. _I can't believe James Mackey didn't do it. I was so sure... Please don't let it be positive, please don't let it be positive... I wonder if anyone knows about me and Terrence... _A sudden wave of arousal washed over him disconnected from the comments. He squirmed in his seat just trying to get more comfortable when he realized that all eyes were on him.

"There a problem Booth," Assistant Director Hacker asked as he looked at the agent.

"No sir, no problem. I'm just a little bit anxious to get back to work."

"Okay... well I think we've covered everything. You're all free to go." The agents all began to stand and head back to their desks, but Booth stopped as Hacker placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Did you need something sir?" The two men held eye contact for a moment before Hacker removed his hand.

"How are you and Temperance getting along now? Have you worked out whatever your issues were?" Booth frowned for a moment, wondering what was going on.

"Yes, sir. We've seen Sweets and we've talked everything out."

"Good, good. I'm glad to know we won't have to break up such a successful partnership."

"Yeah... so, is there anything else you need?"

"No, that's it." Booth stood to leave the conference room, but paused when Andrew cleared his throat. "You don't happen to know who Temperance is seeing, do you?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"I just want to make sure that she's with a good man." At the look on Booth's face, Hacker sighed. "It's you, isn't it?"

"Sir, I've got to get back to work, so..."

"Right, well you do that and I'll..." Hacker pointed back over his shoulder as Booth left the conference room. "Lucky bastard," he muttered, following Booth out. Seeley allowed himself a brief smile before heading to the elevators and Sweets' office. The random thoughts of women bouncing around in his head was one thing, but now the random flushes of arousal, especially during meetings was completely unacceptable.

Booth reached the office and walked in unannounced. Sweets looked up, surprised to see the FBI agent. He sat up straighter and folded his hands on his desk.

"Agent Booth, what can I do for you?"

"You can get this damn chip out of my head. You know, I thought that having other people's thoughts in my head was bad, but I was wrong. The emotions are worse. It was a mistake to get them in there in the first place, so get the damn thing out."

"Wait, what about the emotions?"

"Do you have any idea how bad it is to..." Booth looked around as though there would be someone listening in on the conversation before he continued, "... to have a you know, reaction during a meeting with your boss."

"A reaction? I'm sure I don't know what you mean."

"Come on Sweets, don't make me say it." The two looked at each other for a moment before Sweets got what Booth was saying.

"So what, you somehow became aroused during a meeting?" Booth sighed and put his hands on his waist.

"It wasn't me that was all hot and bothered, it was someone else. Unfortunately, it affected me in the process. I don't even know who it was that was feeling that way because nothing I was hearing at the time seemed to be connected to it."

"Nothing you were hearing?"

"Yeah, and that's another thing. You know, as a teenager, I would have loved to have known what girls were thinking, but now I find it kind of distracting. I mean, I suppose I should be grateful that I'm not getting everything, but still... and why is it that I can only hear the thoughts of women? Why can't I hear what other men are thinking?"

"I wish I had an answer for you Booth, but I'm as clueless as you are. On a plus note, I already have an appointment scheduled for you to have the chips removed. I hope Monday works for you?"

"Wait, you already have something scheduled?"

"Yes, Dr. Brennan stopped by yesterday with some concerns of her own, so I took the opportunity to set up an appointment for the both of you."

"Great, thanks Sweets," Booth smiled and left the office whistling. As the door shut behind the agent, Sweets blew out a breath and leaned back in his chair. It was odd. Before he always found Booth to be the more intimidating of the pair, but after his last visit with Dr. Brennan, his opinion on who was the scary partner had completely changed.

XxXxX

Brennan looked at herself in the mirror, confident that she'd gotten the 'dress sexy' request covered. Just like she'd worn a black dress in Vegas that had warranted an interested response in Booth, she was determined to get a similar one now. Satisfied that she looked the way he wanted, she left her room to wait for Booth to arrive at her apartment. Even though they'd known each other for years now and had even been intimate, she was nervous about the date. What did he have in mind? How could he not think about it for two days while she was desperately trying to figure out what he had planned.

The knock at her door brought on a deer in the headlights look for just a moment as she took a deep breath to calm herself. _It's just Booth, it's just Booth. There's nothing to be worried about._ Temperance opened the door and put on a big smile.

"Hello Booth." She looked him over, appreciating the way that his black button down shirt clung to his chest. A slow, sexy grin spread across Booth's face as he pulled a lily out from behind his back.

"Bones you look amazing." Temperance smile grew brighter as she accepted both the flower and a kiss from him.

"Thank you. I find you to be quite pleasing to look at as well. Let me put this in water and we can go," she said and turned to head to her kitchen. _Oh wow. She looks, I mean, wow, that dress is just..._ Temperance gave herself a mental high five for getting the dress sexy part correct as she rummaged through a cabinet for a vase. Once she found one and got the lily situated, she turned to find Booth waiting for her, holding her coat at the ready. It was odd that her stomach fluttered at such a simple gesture, but no one she'd been out with previously had ever treated her in such a fashion. That was definitely one thing that Booth had in his favor was his absolute insistence on chivalry despite her usual protestations against it.

She smiled as he helped her into the jacket, and after grabbing her purse, they left the apartment in companionable silence. It didn't last long however, and Brennan began to get a bit fidgety. She still had no idea what it was that they would be doing on their date.

"So, are you going to tell me where we're going yet," Brennan asked as she and Booth headed for his SUV. He smirked at her as he opened the door for her.

"It's just driving you crazy not knowing what I've got planned, isn't it?"

"You know that I don't like surprises Booth."

"Yeah, well you can dance around the issue all you want, but you aren't going to learn anything until we get there."

"Fine," Brennan huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and turning to look out the passenger side window. Booth glanced over at her and shook his head. _She is so cute when she's annoyed at me. _The glare that thought earned Booth was enough to make him chuckle.

"You know," he said, glancing at her again, "if it was just you in my head, I don't think I would mind as much."

"I would have to concur. I've heard Angela comment before that men's minds were scary places to be, but I don't think I quite believed her before this week." Booth's head whipped around quickly as he looked at her and frowned.

"What do you mean? Has anyone been disrespectful to you?"

"Eyes on the road Booth. I would hate for us to get into an accident because you weren't paying attention to the road." Grumbling, Booth turned back to the street.

"Answer my question Bones. Has anyone done or said anything disrespectful to you?"

"Out loud? No, not at all. However, I've come to find that most men do have an internal filter for their thoughts."

"Yeah, well I hope you let me know if someone's disrespecting you."

"So you can do what? Booth, you know I can defend myself. I certainly don't need you to do it for me."

"Maybe I like to defend your honor."

"You know, that phrase is completely out dated for today's society. It hearkens back to a time when women weren't deemed worthy of marriage unless they were virgins."

"And why does it have to apply only to virginal women? Why wouldn't it apply to all women regardless of their circumstance?" Booth glanced at Temperance while she scrutinized him.

"Why was it then that you had such a difficult time with Padme's past career choice?"

"Look, I think it's one thing to get into that particular field out of desperation. That's something I can understand." Temperance smirked and turned to face him, her eyebrow arched in amusement.

"What, are you telling me something about your past, a career choice that I don't know about?"

"Let's just say I understand going through desperate measures to support an addiction and leave it at that. I don't approve of people who sell themselves simply for money. It cheapens that connection between a man and a woman."

"Sex is a purely biological function, not some grander scheme."

"You know, I seem to recall you agreeing with me about making love, and I will prove to you that what you and I can have will be amazing." The pair was silent for a moment before Brennan responded.

"You're right, I did agree with you."

"Then what's with the devil's advocate role, huh?"

"Well, you always say that your god is going to strike me down with lightning so..." Booth rolled his eyes.

"Funny Bones, and don't start on religion. I'm drawing a line right here, right now that there will be absolutely no talk of religion at all when we're on a date."

"What about science in the bedroom," she smirked, watching as Booth glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

"It depends. Last night was pretty sexy, right?" Booth winked at Temperance and pulled into a parking space. Brennan looked around, still trying to figure out where Booth was taking her on their date.

"Latin Jazz Alley?"

"Yeah, you know I thought a little dinner and some dancing might be good." Brennan's eyes lit up as she jumped out of the SUV, not waiting for Booth to get the door.

"I've always wanted to learn salsa, but I've never been coordinated enough to maintain the footwork for very long."

"I'm sure you'll do fine. Sometimes it has more to do with your partner than anything you do on your own. You have to trust them to be there for you, you know?"

"Trust is good." Brennan paused, waiting for Booth to join her. As his hand made its way to the familiar spot on her back, a sense of rightness washed over her as thought this moment with the two of them was meant to be. They walked inside to an empty dance floor with several other people milling around. Temperance glanced over at Booth, curious about what was going on.

"Booth?"

"They have dance lessons before the club opens for the night. I thought we could get in a little practice."

"That's probably a good idea because I'm really not a good dancer."

"Well okay, but that's not what I meant. I owe you a lesson in body language." Booth glanced around the room before indicating a young man standing by himself against a wall. "Okay, what's going on over there with Wall Flower?"

Brennan looked at the young man that Booth indicated and watched him. The young man's eyes darted around the room, and he twisted his hands as he looked around.

"He looks nervous. See the way he's wringing his hands and looking about the room?"

"Good, now what about that one?" He indicated another person in the room. This time the person was seated at a table with a young woman. There was nothing outwardly telling in his behavior, and Brennan frowned. What was it that Booth wanted her to see? She concentrated on the man, trying to pick up anything that would help her figure out what she was supposed to see. _Will you marry me? Tracy, I'm so in love with you. I don't want to spend another moment apart... oh god no, that sounds so hokey. How am I supposed to do this? She'll say no, I know it. Man, this was a stupid idea. _Brennan smiled, her heart going out to the nervous young man.

"He wants to propose marriage but is positive she'll say no." Booth glanced at Brennan, watching her expression as she watched the couple. What would it be like for him if he were to ever propose? Would she turn him down or would she say yes if he gave her a logical and reasoned argument? _Ugh, why am I even thinking about this? It's not like it'll ever happen anyway._

Brennan glanced at Booth curiously. What was he thinking would never happen? Did it have anything to do with the man who wanted to propose marriage? She frowned as she looked back over at the couple. Was there something in the body language of the girl that made Booth think she'd say no?

"So he wants to propose marriage, but what in his body language would tell you something like that?"

"I don't know. He looks normal to me. I don't see anything that would indicate that he's scared or nervous."

"Look again Bones. You see the way he keeps reaching for his pocket? Take a look at his eyes. Can't you see how nervous he is?"

"So you think that you can tell what someone is feeling or whether they're being truthful just by their eyes?"

"Well yeah. You've heard the expression 'the eyes are the windows to the soul' right? Well you can tell a lot about someone by their eyes."

"Give me an example." Booth thought for a moment before snapping his fingers and pointing at Temperance.

"Howard Epps." Brennan shivered a bit at the mention of the serial killer's name.

"He always had the ability to creep me out."

"That's because he had that crazy, soulless look to him. Charles Manson would be another good example of crazy eyes." Brennan regarded him for a moment, her head cocked a bit to the side.

"I've always liked your eyes."

"Yeah, I know. They're warm and reassuring with the potential of me being a ruthless killer."

"Booth..." Brennan stopped as the dance instructor clapped her hands.

"Alright, everyone partner up so we can begin!" The pair looked at each other and stopped their conversation in order to concentrate on the lesson.

Temperance occasionally glanced at Booth while following the dance instructor's directions. Her mind wasn't quite on the lesson as her thoughts stayed on what Booth had told her earlier. He'd said that he understood doing desperate things to support an addiction, but what was it that he had done? She couldn't imagine him doing anything illegal. That just wasn't something that he would do. Since his particular vice was gambling, then his desperation had to do with money. Maybe he sold something, but what? He loved vintage cars, so maybe he had sold a car.

Booth sighed as he caught Temperance glancing at him for about the tenth time during the dance lesson. While he was somewhat distracted watching the way that her hips moved as she practiced the steps, he could feel the wheels of her mind turning. What is she thinking about so hard he wondered, finally catching her eyes as they faced each other. He took her hand in his, guiding her into a turn.

"What's on your mind Bones?"

"What did you sell?"

"Excuse me?" Booth looked at her, confused. What was she talking about?

"When you were gambling, what was it that you sold? Was it a car?" Brennan watched as Booth moved from confused to shocked.

"How did you know that I sold something," he asked as _that damn ring _flittered through his thoughts.

"It was just a guess Booth, but I don't think you'd do anything illegal, so the only logical conclusion would be that you sold something of value to support your gambling addiction."

"You're right, but it wasn't a car."

"Well then, what was it?" Booth looked at Brennan and sighed.

"It doesn't really matter. I wouldn't be able to get it back if I tried." Brennan opened her mouth to insist that he tell her what he sold, but stopped. He would tell her in his own time, and it was quite obvious that he was embarrassed by the situation. He was genuinely upset about what he'd done in his past, and she'd always found him to be the most honorable man in her acquaintance because of it.

Her thoughts were pulled back to the present as the music ended and the dance lesson ended. The entire time they'd been in the dance class, he'd been effortlessly leading her through the steps, much like he led her through life. He'd slowly brought down the walls she'd had in place since she was a teenager, drawing her out of a shell and accepting her completely for who she was.

"Booth?"

"Yeah Bones?"

"Do you think we could leave early?" Booth frowned at her, hoping that she hadn't found his idea of a date of- putting. He wasn't getting any feeling that she was having a bad time. In fact what he was getting off of her in waves was...desire.

"You don't want to stay and dance?" She shook her head and smiled up at him, her pupils dilating when their eyes met.

"I would love to dance, but I'm thinking that something of a more horizontal nature is in order." Booth let out a laugh at her implication before planting a hard kiss onto her lips.

"Then I think it's time we headed home, don't you?"


	9. Chapter 9

_Mmmm, that feels so good...just like that, right there...oh my god, how does he do that with his tongue...tastes so good...more, oh just a little harder...So tight...getting close, so close..._

Booth and Brennan moved together, their thoughts intertwined as much as their bodies. Lips met, hands caressed, and hips met in a primal rhythm as they got closer and closer to an explosion. The only thing heard between them was the panting of breath and small moans, their thoughts swirling into a crescendo as they tipped over the edge, falling apart in each others arms.

Brennan panted, her arms locked around Booth as he barely held his weight off of her. She watched as a drop of sweat slid down his nose before falling off and onto her. Their eyes locked and she smiled at him. It was ridiculous that they had put off having a relationship for so long if this was the result.

"You okay baby," Booth asked as he rolled onto his side and pulled her with him. Temperance let out a satisfied sigh and settled her head onto his chest as he tightened his arms around her.

"I find that was quite a satisfying performance." Booth chuckled a bit at her word choice.

"Just satisfying huh? I think I'm losing my touch."

"If that was you losing your ability to please a woman, then I'd love to see you in top shape." The pair grinned at each other before Booth leaned his head down to kiss her on the lips.

"Well, you know what they say, sex is like golf. Even a bad game is good." Booth glanced at Brennan, smirking as he watched her frown just a little bit.

"That makes no sense Booth. If the sex were bad then why would you want to repeat the process again?"

"Never mind Bones. What do you say we get a little sleep and see where the morning takes us?" He kissed her again and tightened his grip on her as he closed his eyes. He was completely satisfied, and not just from being intimate with Temperance. He'd dreamed of being in this position for so long, in the arms of the woman that he loves that there was no way to wipe the smile off of his face. The world was as it should be to him. The feeling of contentment intensified, and he inhaled a breath and let it out slowly.

"Booth?"

"Yeah baby?"

"Do you feel that?"

"Yeah, I do feel it."

"I think that I like knowing that you feel the same way that I do."

"I like that too baby. I love you Temperance, you know that, right?" She was quiet for a few minutes, enjoying the way that their combined emotions felt. Finally she sighed and looked up into Booth's face.

"Is this the way that love feels to you?"

"Yeah Bones. This is how it feels for me, but only the way that it feels for you. Does that make sense?"

"I don't think I understand." Booth rolled a bit to his side so he could better look at Temperance. He ran a hand through her hair and looked into his eyes.

"I love you, and Parker, and I still hold a place for Rebecca in my heart, but the way that I feel about you is different than what I feel for anyone else, so what we're sharing here is just for you. I couldn't feel that way about anyone else." Temperance leaned up and kissed him slowly, the shared emotions intensifying the sensation and deepening their connection even more.

XxXxX

_"Pay up Tex. I let you go long enough without paying and my boss ain't too happy about that." Booth looked at the loan shark's lackey and stepped into the man's personal space. After what he'd seen during his time in the military, this man certainly didn't scare him. He wasn't intimidated in the least._

_"Yeah, and what are you going to do about it huh? You really think you can take me?" The other man shrugged just before a baseball bat crashed into Seeley's back. He fell forward onto his knees, curling up a bit to protect himself from the heavy blows._

_"Where's the money huh? Where's the money? You want us to go after that little blonde thing you're seeing? I don't care where it comes from. You don't pay up, then you'll pay some other way, got it?" The man kicked Booth hard in the ribs, a loud crack resounding as a couple of his ribs cracked. "I'll give you a week to pay up, Tex. After that you'd better get that little blonde of yours out of town, got it?" Booth groaned as pain washed over him. He tried to breathe, but the pain from the cracked ribs made it difficult to do. The man kicked him one last time before leaving with his buddy, calling over his shoulder. "You better have that money, you hear me?"_

_Booth lay still for a while, trying to work the nerve to get up. He certainly couldn't stay here, but knew it was going to hurt like hell to get up and make his way to a hospital. Finally he managed to get to his feet and staggered to his truck. Rebecca was going to hate this when she found out. Maybe he could say that he'd gotten hurt chasing a suspect. That might work._

_It was hours later when he finally made it back home. Though he wasn't supposed to drive while on his pain medication, he wasn't about to call his girlfriend to come get him. He had to tough this out on his own. He and Rebecca were in a tight enough spot with her recent discovery that she was expecting and subsequent dismissal of his proposal. It was with the proposal in his mind that he made his way silently through the apartment and into the guest bedroom closet. He rummaged around through several boxes, his teeth grit in pain until he found what he was looking for._

_Booth flipped open the box to the antique ring and looked at it. When he'd proposed to Rebecca, he'd shown her the ring and had hoped to put it on her finger. Instead, she'd turned him down and now it sat in the closet collecting dust. Booth pocketed the ring and headed out of the apartment once more. There had to be a pawn shop open somewhere. He could get the money he owed by selling the ring, especially once the owner found out the history behind it._

XxXxX

Temperance lay awake as the sun began to peek over the horizon. It was still early, and she had at least an hour before she needed to get out of bed, but going back to sleep was out of the question. The dream she'd had was odd to say the least, mostly because it didn't feel like a dream. She frowned, wondering if what she'd experienced was related to the implanted chip in her head.

Booth shifted a little bit as he slept, his arms tightening around Temperance and pulling her closer to his body. Brennan reached out a hand and ran it whisper soft on his cheek. He mumbled something and leaned into her touch as he slept on. Temperance thought back to the odd dream, her forehead crinkling as she frowned a little. Last night he'd had that unguarded thought about a ring, and then she'd dreamt about him selling a ring with some sort of significance to it. What was the significance though?

"Bones, go back to sleep. You're thinking me awake." Temperance looked at him as he lay next to her with his eyes still closed.

"Sorry. I'll try to think quieter." Booth chuckled and opened one eye to look at her.

"You're beautiful this early in the morning, you know that?" He watched her cheeks pink up a little as she smiled brightly at him. _Jesus she's stunning when she smiles that way._

"I must say that I find the rougher quality to your voice quite stimulating." Booth growled and pulled her down to him, capturing her mouth with his. When he broke off the intense kiss, he looked at her with a heated expression.

"Baby, we need to work on your pillow talk. It's a good thing I'm so fond of you." Brennan quirked up an eyebrow as she leaned down to kiss him again.

"I'm sure I can do something that will make you even more fond of me."

"Yeah, and what's that?" When she encircled him with her hand, Booth grunted and pushed his hips up to her, extremely glad that she'd managed to wake him up early.


	10. Chapter 10

Brennan couldn't stop the glowing smile on her face if she'd tried, not that she wanted to. She was happier than she'd been in a long time and the small bounce in her step was a huge indication of that happiness. An occasional stray thought or two invaded her mind, but she pushed them aside as she made her way to her office. Nothing at all could dampen the mood she was in. She sat down at her computer, starting it up to check her e-mail and start her day.

"Honey." Temperance glanced up at her father and smiled. He paused as he took a moment to look at her. _Well, it looks like Booth finally grew a pair and told my little girl how he feels about her._

"Did you need anything Dad?" Brennan ignored his thought about Booth and waited patiently for him to get to the point of his visit.

"I'm giving a tour to a school group today and wondered if you'd like to join me. We'll be seeing the Egyptian exhibit among other things and I thought that you might like to say a few things about the mummies."

Temperance thought for a moment, glancing at the in-box full of requests. Obviously she had a lot of work to do but...

"Certainly, I'd like the opportunity to observe adolescent behavior in an academic setting." Temperance stood and followed her father from the office as he chuckled. "What's so amusing?"

"Nothing's amusing. I just find it endearing that you think you can get anything out of a bunch of kids on a field trip."

"Anthropologically speaking..."

"Now honey, none of that right now. Why don't you just leave the science behind, but engage the children with a story or two."

"That makes absolutely no sense to me. You're asking me to leave the science behind, but to tell the students about my finds. That's ridiculous when I used a scientific process to make my findings."

"Never mind. I'm sure you'll do fine." Max was quiet for a moment before he spoke again. "So you haven't said, but how are things with you and Booth?"

Temperance glanced at her father as they left the museum and headed toward an unloading zone where several buses sat unloading children.

"Why would you thing that anything has changed between us?"

"Oh please, as if anyone else could make you glow like that." Max glanced at his daughter as she grinned a little and shook her head.

"As a matter of fact he and I had a very nice date last night. It was probably the best date I've had in quite some time and if you try to have any kind of 'talk' with him, I'll know."

"You know me too well sweetheart." Max gave his daughter's shoulder a brief squeeze and grinned at her as they got closer to the buses. "So when can I expect to see a ring on your finger."

"Just because Booth and I are dating now doesn't mean that I will ever marry him. We just got into this relationship, and I doubt that he's even thinking about marriage." She paused dramatically as if thinking and looked at her father. "No, in fact he's thinking that he'd rather be anywhere but at the meeting he's attending, and hopes that Assistant Director Hacker doesn't notice he's doodling in his notebook."

"Ha ha, very funny sweetheart. If there's one thing that I do know about Booth it's that he's thought of being married to you, and I can guarantee that he will ask you at the first opportunity. You take my word on that. I know because I felt for your mother the same way that he feels about you."

Brennan opened her mouth to respond, but stopped and turned at the loud, "Bones!" being yelled at her. She turned to look in the direction of the sound and grinned as a blond, curly-haired boy ran toward her. She dropped down to hug him as he reached her.

"Parker, what are you doing here?"

"We have a field trip here. We get to see mummies and all sorts of stuff today. Hey, is my dad here too?"

"No, he's at work, but maybe he'll be by a little later." She stood and ruffled his hair as the young boy turned to her father.

"Grandpa Max, are you joining us too? This is so cool, wait 'til the others find out." Parker was practically bouncing with excitement at the prospect of Temperance and Max leading the tour of the museum. Before any of them could speak another word, a red haired, bearded man began to storm up toward them.

"Parker Booth, I would think you'd know better than to talk to strangers. What is wrong with you?"

"Mr. Heck, they aren't strangers. This is Dr. Brennan, my dad's friend, and this is her dad, Max. It's okay, I know them real well."

"Did you say Dr. Brennan?" Mr. Heck took a look at Brennan before his face turned to shocked, and then a smile spread across it that looked like it was trying for charming but just looked oddly disconcerting to Temperance. The man reached out his hand to shake hers, and she hesitated for just a moment before taking his. _Oh disgusting. He has hyperhidrosis._ "Temperance Brennan, you are by far my favorite author. I must say that your books are quite the inspiration to a budding author like myself. Perhaps we can discuss writing sometime?"

"While I appreciate that you're a fan of my books, I don't have the time to spare for a more causal discussion." She pulled her hand from his and surreptitiously wiped it on her pants. Sweaty palms were disgusting. "As for now I'm sure that your other students are expecting us to join them for the tour of the museum."

"Oh, yes of course. Yes, please follow me, won't you?" Mr. Heck reached out in an effort to guide her to the other children, but Parker had placed himself at her side, Max on the other to keep her out of the reach of the rather smarmy teacher. He offered them both a tight smile after a moment's hesitation and hurried ahead to organize the groups.

XxXxX

Booth sat in the meeting with A.D. Hacker and a few other superiors, trying to pay attention to what they were saying, but found that his interest had long ago waned. It wasn't to say that he was disinterested in his job, but he'd never been interested in the inter-office politics. Hacker had once said that it was Booth's success that boosted his own, and he didn't doubt it, although he really should have gotten more credit than he did for his hard work.

He frowned at the random thoughts drifting through his mind. He'd learned way too much about what women really thought in the last few days and was looking forward to getting rid of the chip, although the benefit of the sharpened emotional connection with Temperance was almost worth leaving it where it was. The way that their emotional states seemed to wrap around and meld with each other was as if their very thoughts were making love to each other.

Booth shifted uncomfortably in his seat at the thought. Why was it all of a sudden that he couldn't control his libido when it concerned Temperance. He glanced down at the paper in front of him and frowned slightly. Since when had he turned into a thirteen year old girl? His name and hers were all over the page in various combinations, although the most prominent of which was 'Mr. and Mrs. Seeley Booth'. He tore the page from his notebook and crumpled it up, not wanting anyone to see what he'd been doodling.

"So Booth, what do you say?" Booth looked up at Hacker with a confused expression. When had they begun to talk to him.

"I'm sorry sir, but I didn't catch the question."

"I can see that. You don't seem to be quite yourself lately, is there any particular reason why?"

"Nothing that I would care to discuss at work. Now what was it that you wanted me to do?"

"Dr. Sweets put in his report on your experimental procedure, and made a note about your ability to hear the thoughts of others. I was wondering if you'd like to give us a demonstration of that ability by assisting with an interrogation."

"What? I'm sorry sir, but I am not a parlor trick. I'm not planning to have this 'experimental procedure' in place for much longer, so I would really appreciate it if you would respect that and not ask me to perform at your whim."

"Well, suit yourself," Hacker said, clearly surprised that Booth had turned down the offer. The rest of the suits began to shuffle out of the room and as Booth gathered his things to return to his office, one of the top brass stopped him.

"Agent Booth, I was hoping to have a word with you." The man smiled as Booth looked up in surprise. While he missed having Deputy Director Sam Cullen around, the newest deputy director over violent crimes was an immensely kind man. How he had that dufus, Hacker working under him was anybody's guess.

"Of course sir, how can I help you?" Booth watched as the Deputy Director waited for everyone to leave the room and then sat down, facing him.

"I've watched your career for the past ten years and I must say that I am incredibly impressed in your performance."

"Thank you sir."

"I'm not one to beat around the bush, so I'm just going to come out and ask. I am looking for an Assistant Director for the Organized Crime Unit. I heard about how you handled that Russian mob boss and would love a man with your integrity to head it up. What do you say?"

Booth stared at the man in shock for a moment before he had the ability to speak again. Was he really being offered a promotion?

"Would you mind if I get back to you on that sir? This is something that I need to discuss with my partner."

"Yes of course. Talk to your partner and get back to me so I know whether or not to move to the next name on my list." With that, the man gave a quick nod to Booth and headed from the conference room. Booth sat for a moment, contemplating the offer he'd just been given. Discussing such an important offer with Bones shouldn't be put off, so he stood up to head over to the Jeffersonian. What he wasn't expecting was the wall of fear that slammed into him, knocking him on his ass and out like a light.


	11. Chapter 11

"Anok was innocent, though everyone thought he'd murdered his brother. In reality, his brother suffered from a condition called _osteogenesis imperfecta_, otherwise known as brittle bone disease. The fall from his chariot was more stress than his bones could handle and he died from his wounds. Anok's mother knew that her son was guiltless and had this," Brennan said as she pointed to a large ruby inside of the mummy display, "put in place of his heart so that the gods would know that he was guiltless of the crime of murder."

"And all of this was discovered how," asked Trevor Heck as he edged closer to the anthropologist. Brennan eyed him for a moment and moved away before answering his question.

"Anok's mummy was stolen from the museum and strung up onto an electrical fence. The Federal Bureau of Investigations was asked to investigate the body and because I work with the Bureau on investigations, I was called in to examine the remains. I was able to discover the truth of Anok's innocence during the course of the investigation."

"Cool," came the response of the school kids as they crowded in around the mummy, trying to get a better look at the body.

"Are there any questions for Dr. Brennan before we continue the tour," Max asked the school group, drawing their attention up to him. He wasn't surprised that several hands flew up, and the tour was delayed an additional twenty minutes before they could continue on. Max ushered the group of excited kids toward the elevators to continue on their tour, secretly thrilled that his sometimes awkward daughter was the hit of the day. He was proud to bursting at the way she interacted with the kids and took the time to simplify her answers to them in a way that was easy for them to understand. What he didn't like however, was the way that the school teacher kept looking at her. Didn't the man know that she was taken for God's sake?

"Okay kids," Max said when they reached the elevators. "We're off to see some pirates and their treasure. There are two elevators here. Half of you in here with me, the other half with Dr. Brennan." Before Max could maneuver the rather smarmy teacher into the his elevator, the man slipped inside with Temperance. _Oh well, she's a big girl and can take care of herself._ He watched as the doors closed and did a quick check to make sure that none of the kids were missing before allowing the doors on his elevator to shut as they headed up one level to see the pirate display.

"Dr. Brennan, I have to say that this has been such an enjoyable tour with your presence here." Trevor Heck moved around the back of the small elevator until he was standing next to Temperance. She looked at him, her expression unreadable. "I was hoping that maybe we could..."

Temperance opened her mouth to cut off his obvious attempt at asking her out when the lights in the elevator blinked out. The children began to scream and the car dropped down, lurching from its position before screeching to a stop. Brennan caught herself during the descent so she wouldn't fall on any of the scared children, but froze and let out a startled scream as a clammy hand wrapped around her bicep.

_"God damn it girl, didn't I tell you what would happen if you dropped one of my dishes? Didn't I?" Tempe looked at her foster father, her eyes wide with fear as his clammy hand closed in around her upper arm. He pulled her along behind him, not caring that she had trouble keeping his pace, nor that her hands were bright pink from the heat of the soapy water she'd had them immersed in._

_"I didn't...it was an accident. The water's so hot..." Tempe gasped as his hand closed on her arm tighter. Tears welled in her eyes as he shoved her into the garage ahead of him, pushing her toward the trunk of the sedan._

_"The water's so hot," he imitated, a whine to his voice. "You don't see any of us have problems with the water. I God damn told you what would happen and you broke my property anyway. Now get in there you disrespectful bitch." He popped the trunk open on the sedan and shoved her into the space, her head slamming into the lid of the trunk as she went in. She heard his muffled voice through the metal of the chassis as he walked away from the vehicle. "You'll stay there until I think you've learned your lesson."_

_XxXxX_

Booth scrambled to his feet, shaking away the cobwebs of the vision as he headed for the elevators. Something had happened to Temperance and if her fear response was anything to go by, it was bad. He had to make his way to the Jeffersonian immediately. That was the only place that she could be. As he raced down the hallway to the elevator, he was confronted by Sweets, who didn't seem to notice the almost frantic edge to Booth's countenance.

"Oh hey I wanted to talk to you about..."

"No time. I have to get to the Jeffersonian now."

"But it will only take a moment."

"And Bones could be dead in a moment if I don't get over there." That comment stopped Sweets cold. He followed the FBI agent on his frantic pace to the elevator.

"What's happened?"

Booth turned to look at the psychologist and tried not to give him an annoyed look. It wasn't working very well.

"I don't know. What I do know is that something has her scared and I need to go and find her. Capiche?" With that, he strode into the elevator and watched as the doors shut on the young psychologist. He liked Sweets, or at least he really tried to, but sometimes the guy just... Booth clenched his hands at his sides, willing the elevator to just go a little faster damn it. Finally after what seemed to be way too long, the doors dinged open on the ground floor of the Hoover Building.

Booth burst out of the elevator, ignoring the looks from the other agents as he sprinted to his SUV. Whatever it was that had scared her was enough to bring on something that he knew still gave her nightmares. His thoughts were occupied with her as he tried to get a lid on his own emotions so he could concentrate on the drive to the museum. The last thing that he needed was to get into an accident on the way to her because he wasn't paying attention to the road.

With a sigh of relief, he drove to the school unloading zone reserved in front of the hotel and left his lights on as he ran inside. No one was going to give him a ticket and damned if he was going to take the time to actually park in the structure when he had Temperance to worry about.

He scrambled up the steps and headed toward the Medico-Legal lab, but came to a skidding halt. With a frown, he paused to get a bearing on what was being broadcast into his head. First off, the fear had subsided to almost nothing and now he was overwhelmed with... annoyance? That threw him. What could have frightened her so much earlier that it caused a flashback but now just made her really annoyed?

He stood for a moment trying to focus in on her a little bit better. _Mmm, that one there has to wear boxers, and damn, look at the way he's shifted to the front. He might not be low hung but damn, he's equipped._ Booth looked up sharply, turning to find out where the wayward thought came from. To his side there was a woman in her early thirties that stood there, watching him. She smiled at him and winked as he looked her way. Well, that answers that question, he thought as he approached her.

"Excuse me, do you work in the museum proper?" Booth asked her as she jutted her rather ample chest out just a little bit. She certainly is forward, he thought as he waited for her answer.

"That I do. I'm one of the tour guides there. You planning on taking a tour?"

"No, but I did have a question. Has Dr. Brennan been through here at all today?"

"Oh, yeah she was going with a school group to lecture them on the Egyptian exhibit. I kind of wish I could have been there. It's not often we get the experts out there on the tours."

"How long ago did she pass through?" The young woman leaned a bit toward him, her arms clasped behind her back to make her assets stick out just a bit further. Wow, she really isn't getting the whole uninterested vibe off of me, is she?

"I'd say it was about an hour ago, but you might want to check with security. There's a problem with one of the elevators and it's stuck between two floors."

Booth cursed under his breath and ran a hand over his head. Well that probably explained the fear response. At least she was okay... he hoped. With a quick word of thanks to the tour guide, Booth strode off to find out where the elevator had stuck so he could be there when she got off of it safely.

XxXxX

"I'm sorry, but I do believe that I warned you not to touch me," Temperance said as she looked down at Trevor Heck. She'd asked him a few times not to touch her, and had even tried to evade his attempts at closeness, but nothing seemed to get through to the sweaty palmed man. When he'd grabbed her in the elevator, nothing could have stopped her from doing what she did. She certainly didn't regret hip tossing him to the floor, glad that the kids sharing the elevator with them weren't hurt by the action.

"I was only trying to make sure that you were okay," he said, grumbling as he got back onto his feet. Brennan glanced quickly at Parker, who stood by her side like a miniature version of his father, intent on offering protection from an outside threat. She suppressed a smile at the boy's actions.

"You could have done that easily by asking if I was unhurt. I don't appreciate being touched when it's uninvited." Temperance felt the elevator lurch once and descend just a bit before settling. Then the doors opened and she had to smile. Next to the elevator technician stood a very concerned looking Seeley Booth.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" Parker pushed past the other kids in the elevator to give his dad a hug. "You should have seen it. Bones totally beat up Mr. Heck."

"She did, did she," he asked and glanced up at her. Temperance grinned and followed the others off of the elevator to give Booth a hug herself. She'd never been happier to see him even though there was really no need for him to be there.

"Yes, I did. I don't appreciate people touching me without my permission." Brennan took Booth's hand into hers and faced the embarrassed teacher. "Mr. Heck, I'm sure you won't mind Parker's father taking custody of him at this time? I do believe that this incident has taken up the remainder of your allotted time, and since his school day will be over, we'll keep him here with us."

"Uh, well that's not normally..." Mr. Heck looked at Booth and realized that it would be a tremendously stupid idea to deny the request. "Okay, so I suppose it's okay because you are the parent."

"Good choice," Booth said to the man as he smirked. "And don't think I'll forget that you accosted my girlfriend without her permission. The principal will be hearing about this."

Booth, Brennan, and Parker turned away from the speechless school teacher, heading from the museum floor. Brennan glanced around at the exhibit as they passed through, letting Booth have his moment of smug satisfaction regarding Mr. Heck's unprofessional behavior.

"You really don't need to report his behavior Booth," she said, pausing as something caught her eye.

"I know, and I'm pretty sure they'll hear about it from all of the children anyhow. What's up Bones?"

"We're in the Lincoln exhibit." She let go of Booth's hand and headed toward the small display case that caught her attention. All throughout this section of the museum were artifacts and recreations relating to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, however, one small display case held a few items connected to John Wilkes Booth. One of the items was the gun used in the assassination, but tucked away amidst the display was a woman's ring, the ring given to John's fiancee and passed down to his descendants until it was sold to pay off a gambling debt. There inside the case sat the unassuming ring that should belong to one Seeley Joseph Booth.


	12. Chapter 12

Brennan stepped closer to the display case, intent on getting a better look at the ring. She glanced up at Booth for just a moment, aware that his body language showed him to be incredibly tense. So, he did recognize the ring inside of the display case. Temperance scanned the display, looking for something that would tell her who owned the ring. If it was the museum, there wasn't really a chance that she could acquire it for Booth. He might not say it, but regardless of whom the ring belonged to originally, it was still a part of Booth's history.

"Hey Bones, what's so important about that ring," Parker asked as he peered into the case with her. To him, it looked like any other ring.

"That ring was given to Lucy Lambert Hale by her fiancee, John Wilkes Booth." Parker made a face as he looked at the ring.

"You mean someone actually wanted to marry him? He killed the president." The boy was unaware of the turmoil going on inside of his father. He didn't see the clenching of his hands or the way that his mouth drew up into a straight line. Brennan did notice however, and could feel his emotional state roiling in her own head. She glanced once at Booth and saw the minuscule shake of his head. _He doesn't know Bones. Please don't tell him._

"Parker," Brennan began and turned him to face her as she dropped closer to his level. "You know that your father was in the army, right?"

"Well duh. He was like the best sniper ever." He beamed with pride at the statement, his adulation of his father obvious in the statement.

"And what is it that snipers do?"

"Bones..." Booth growled the word, but Brennan just looked up at him calmly. A moment passed between them before Booth sighed and sat down next to Parker. This was obviously something that he'd avoided talking to his son about, trying to shield him from the truth of his father's past. Parker looked back and forth between the two of them until Brennan's gaze settled back onto him. Once her attention was his fully, he answered her question.

"Snipers are people who sit in bushes or on rooftops and wait for someone that they are supposed to kill. When the person shows up, then the sniper shoots them." He glanced at his father as he said it, unsure of what Brennan was doing with her questions. His dad was obviously uncomfortable with the line of questioning.

"So would it stand to reason that maybe a sniper might be asked to kill someone who was a leader in another country? Maybe we agree with their views and maybe they don't, but that soldier was given an order to kill someone. Does that mean that person shouldn't be loved?"

"No, that's just silly."

"It is, and you have to realize something about John Wilkes Booth. Whether or not his personal beliefs were right or wrong, when he shot the president, he did it because he thought it was the right thing to do."

"But it was wrong. He wasn't told to do it. He just decided to shoot the president on his own."

"That's correct, but it doesn't mean that he was any less worthy of love than anyone else. I want you to remember that. He wasn't crazy and he didn't take pleasure in what he did. He did it because he felt it was necessary."

"Why should it matter what I think of him?" Again, he watched as his father and Bones shared a look. Once the moment passed, she turned to look back at him.

"One day it might hold more meaning for you than it does today." Brennan stood up and held out a hand to the boy, which he took immediately. "Now, how about we go grab some lunch at the Royal Diner before we take you home?"

XxXxX

"Thank you for not telling him. I'm not sure how he'd take it." Booth ran a hand up Brennan's naked back as they lay in bed together that night. Temperance turned her head to look at him, a questioning expression on her face.

"I don't understand why you wouldn't want him to know about his heritage. I understand that it can be difficult to be related to a criminal, but I'm unsure why it bothers you so much."

"Having a father who killed the Deputy Director of the FBI isn't quite the same as being a descendant of John Wilkes Booth, trust me on that one. There's a much greater stigma attached to it."

"Hmmm," was her response before she laid her head down onto her pillow and closed her eyes. Booth watched her for a moment, his eyes narrowing at what he could feel coming off of her. She was doing a great job at shielding her thoughts from him at the moment, but he could still feel that something was on her mind.

"Whatcha thinking about Bones? I can feel the wheels turning in there."

She opened one eye and looked at him before closing it again. With a mumbled response, she shifted against the mattress to get more comfortable for sleep. Booth just knew that she wasn't that tired and was trying to avoid his question. With a frown he took his hand from her back and rolled onto his own. He put his hands under his head and stared up at the ceiling.

"I was offered a promotion at work today." Booth glanced at her from the corner of his eye. Yep, that got her attention. She sat up in bed and turned toward him, waiting to hear more. He enjoyed the view of her uncovered breasts for just a moment before elaborating. "Assistant Director of Organized Crime. I said I'd have to discuss it with you before I gave them an answer."

"What do you want to do? I know that you enjoy the position you're in currently, but I think it would be a good move for you."

"Is that it? What about our work together? I know you don't like to work with other agents."

"If we were separated because of something bureaucratic then I would be very annoyed. I don't have to go out in the field as much as I enjoy working with you. If you feel that this is something you want to do, then I'll support that decision."

"I honestly don't know if I want it or not. I mean the advancement would be fantastic, but I do enjoy my position..." He sighed and closed his eyes. It was a lot to think about, and probably a fantastic opportunity, but did he really want to end up with a desk job? Jared always accused him of taking the safe route, of keeping his head down to avoid detection. That wasn't true, was it? Booth frowned, his brow knitting together. Jared was of the opinion that he was a loser. If he stayed in his current position, would that make him a loser, or would that make him dedicated? No, he shook his head, he wasn't some loser. He truly enjoyed what he did for a living, but if that meant passing up a promotion like this...

"Booth," Brennan murmured from her spot next to him, "stop letting Jared's opinion rule your decision. If you want the job then take it. Just make up your mind because I can't sleep with your thoughts in my head."

Booth smiled and rolled onto his side so that he could look at Temperance. She'd shifted onto her side, and he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close to him. It didn't matter what he did for a job so long as he got to experience this every night for the rest of his life.

XxXxX

_Seeley held Temperance's hand as they walked along the edge of the reflecting pool. There was a chill in the air, and snow began to fall around them, but the way he was feeling couldn't be suppressed. He loved her with everything he had, and as much as her answer terrified him, Booth was determined to ask her to marry him. This was what he wanted from the moment they met, and it was time to take the chance and ask. Sure, he knew her views on marriage, but maybe he could find a way to sway her to his way of thinking._

_As they approached their favorite spot right next to a coffee cart, he sat down, pulling Temperance down with him. He wrapped his arm around her and leaned in to give her a kiss. As the kiss broke, he watched a smile bloom across her face._

_"What," he asked as she continued to smile._

_"I have something important that I want to tell you."_

_"Oh? Well I do too baby." He turned his full attention onto her, admiring the way that her beautiful ivory skin seemed to glow in the moonlight. Sometimes it took his breath away how beautiful she was. Temperance looked away from him for just a moment, and when she turned back, there were tears glistening in her eyes._

_"I had a doctor's appointment earlier today, and was informed that I'm pregnant."_

_Booth stared at her for a moment, stunned. He was over the moon about the news, but it kind of stole his thunder. He reached into his pocket and reflexively closed his hand around the antique ring box there before he realized that Temperance was waiting for his response. She looked nervous, but it melted away as a smile broke out over Booth's face._

_"We're going to have a baby?" She nodded and he pulled her to him, kissing her soundly on the lips. "That's amazing Bones!"_

_"I have to admit that I find I'm quite excited by the news as well. I know that we discussed my having a child before, but now that I'm gravid, I find my level of emotion about it is overwhelming."_

_"Sweetheart, you don't know how this makes me feel. We're going to have a family together." He placed a hand over her still flat belly and leaned in to kiss her again. When he pulled back, Brennan reached up to wipe a tear that escaped down her cheek. She let out a huff and blinked back the other tears before turning her attention back to Booth._

_"You said that you had news as well?"_

_"It's nothing, and you kind of stole my thunder a bit Bones." He offered her a lopsided grin, reached into his pocket and handed the ring box to her. "I was planning to ask you to marry you, but now with you being pregnant and all, I don't want you to think that I was doing it out of a sense of duty."_

_Brennan simply looked at him, completely stunned at his words. She glanced down and popped open the ring box to look at the antique ring there. The cut of the stones was beautiful, and the stones sparkled in the soft moonlight, hinting at the fire that would shine in the day._

_"It's beautiful," she murmured and looked up at Booth. He rubbed the back of his neck, a bit embarrassed by the way he'd presented the ring to Temperance. As their eyes met, he frowned a bit as he tried to read her expression._

_"Come on Bones, that's all you have to say?"_

_"What do you want me to say Booth? You told me that you were going to ask, but you've yet to phrase a proposal into a question. I can't very well give you an answer if you don't ask the question."_

_"Okay," he said, his heart beating faster and his stomach clenching in anticipation. "Temperance, I have loved you from the beginning and even though you feel that marriage would stifle your personal sense of independence, you know that I would never do anything to keep you away from the things that you want to do. I want you to be my wife, my partner in everything. With that in mind, will you marry me?"_

XxXxX

Temperance sat up in bed, waking from a deep sleep to look at Booth. She ran a hand through her hair and sighed, knowing that his dreaming of them together should be expected, and given his beliefs in marriage and family, the fact that he wanted to marry her was a given. Still, the experience of being in his head and sharing his fantasy was disconcerting. When he woke up in the morning, they would have to have a chat about their relationship expectations. She didn't want him going into this with any false hopes that they would ever get that far. She just wasn't the marrying kind, and Booth knew that. She just wished his heart would know it as much as his head did.


	13. Chapter 13

_AN: Hey guys, I know it's been a bit since I've updated, but things are kind of crazy in my world right now. I've been doing some background work and the last two weeks have worked on the show 'Extra'. I get to be on 'Grey's Anatomy' on Sunday and then back to 'Extra' next week. I'll try to get up more updates soon, but no guarantees on when I'll post. Please let me know what you think of the chapter. I always appreciate the comments._

Booth woke up slowly from the dream he shared with Temperance. Dreaming of marriage to her was something he did quite often, but always pushed it to the back of his mind. He knew her views on matrimony and never dreamed of pushing it on her. Just to be with her now was really enough for him. Sure, down the road he wanted to maybe live together and have the child that she wanted, but they didn't need a ring on their finger to have that in their lives. What worried him was Brennan's reaction to the dream.

He could feel the urge to run washing over him from her, so it came as no surprise when she climbed from the bed and went into the other room thinking that he was still asleep. This wasn't the time to go after her, not with her so wound up over something that she dreamed up. He knew the truth of what happened whether she would admit it or not. The portion of the dream involving the proposal was all Temperance. He knew that because of the ring presented to her. She dreamt of the antique ring once owned by John Wilkes Booth, but it wouldn't be his choice. No, he had something in mind... not that he was ever planning to ask her.

Booth rubbed a hand over his face and sighed as he finally opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling. Who was he trying to kid? The proposal may have been all her, but he wanted it so bad he could taste it. Groaning, he rolled out of bed and pulled on a pair of boxers. It would be better to confront this now that she'd had a few minutes alone and just get it over with... kind of like pulling off a band-aid.

He padded down the hall and into the kitchen, where he found her leaning against the counter with her eyes closed. Quietly, he walked up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist.

"This is a little late for you to be up, isn't it," he said and kissed the side of her neck. He felt her tense up a bit, but ignored it, keeping her in the gentle circle of his arms.

"It's not much earlier than I'd normally get up for the day," she replied before pulling away from Booth and turning to look at him. He watched as she folded her arms across her chest and leaned as far away from him as she could. "If you expect to have a relationship with me then it should be something you'll have to adjust to."

Booth mentally winced at the ice in her voice. The dream scared her more than he thought it had if she was shutting down like this. Booth decided to give her the space that she wanted and stepped away from her.

"You know I don't have any problem with your sleep habits. What's going on Bones?"

"There's nothing going on with me, Booth."

"Oh come on Bones, don't lie to me. I can feel you panicking. You want to tell me what the problem is, or do you want me to guess?"

"I'm not comfortable with being inside of your dreams, that's all. I don't think I'm quite ready for the level of commitment you're expecting of me."

"Temperance," Booth began and took her hands, gently pulled her arms from her body. "The only thing I expect of you in this relationship is for you to be honest with me."

"You want to marry me." She looked at him for a long time, waiting for him to deny it, but the only thing that she felt from him was worry that she would panic and run from him.

"You're right, I do want to marry you, but I know that's not what you want right now. I know your feelings and I respect them. You know I do, so why are you so worried that I don't?"

"You want things from me that I'm not capable of giving, and to see it inside of your head..."

"I hate to tell you this baby, but that proposal was all you. You scared yourself with that one."

"No, I wouldn't dream of something that I don't want."

"But you'd write it in a book?" Booth looked at her for a long time and could feel her squirming under his steady gaze. He knew he was uncomfortable, but they needed to talk this out before it truly caused any problems.

"I erased the book, you know that."

"Yeah, I do, but that doesn't change the fact that you still wrote a story about us and in it we were married and expecting a child. Look, I'm going to head home so I can get ready for work. I have to meet with the Deputy Director today about my decision and I think you need a little time to adjust or whatever." Booth tugged on her hands until she moved forward and into his arms. He kissed her on the lips before looking down at her. "Promise me one thing?"

"What's that?"

"Don't freak out on me, and don't shut down because the thought of marrying me is so terrifying to you. I'm not going to ask because it's not something that you want. If you decide somewhere down the line that you want that step for us, then let me know, okay?" Brennan nodded and Booth stepped away from her to get dressed, but not before he kissed her one more time. He headed to the bedroom and threw on his clothes, reluctant to go home and prepare for the day ahead, whatever it would bring.

XxXxX

"Sweetie, what's going on, you've got pensive face." Temperance turned to her best friend with a frown on her face.

"What do you mean I've got pensive face?"

"I mean you look like you've got a lot on your mind, so spill."

"Booth admitted to me that he'd like to marry me."

"Oh my god, he proposed to you?" Angela pulled Brennan into her office and sat the anthropologist down on the couch before joining her. She was vibrating in excitement, waiting to hear that there had been some romantic proposal.

"No, he didn't, at least not after we woke up." Temperance sighed and looked away from her best friend. She still didn't know what to think about the dream, but there was something else that was bothering her. "Last night Booth stayed over at my apartment after we dropped Parker off with Rebecca. Somehow our dreams combined and in that state, he proposed to me."

"You panicked, didn't you? Sweetie, you know he would never push something like that onto you, especially with your beliefs about marriage."

"That's the problem Ange. He wasn't the one dreaming about a proposal, I was. It scared me because it's just too much too soon. I don't want to get married."

"Okay, I doubt that Bren. You wouldn't have written about it, nor would you have dreamt about it if it was something you didn't want out of life. What's really bothering you?"

"I just..." Brennan blew out a breath and turned back to her best friend. "I've had a plan where my life was to go for quite a few years, and never did a husband enter into that equation. I didn't need to have someone in my life that was going to dictate what I could and couldn't do. I'm my own person."

"But..."

"But ever since I met Booth, that changed. I suddenly have a reason to get married and that scares me."

"Just let the tide take you where it's going to, Sweetie. Booth will never push you, you know that. He loves you and that's all that really matters." Angela smiled at Temperance and offered her friend a hug. When the friends let go, Temperance stood up and took a deep breath.

"Do you know where I can find Hodgins? I need his help with something."

"I haven't seen him yet this morning, but he's probably in his office. What's up?"

"Nothing right now. I have to go." Brennan turned and left the office on her quest for the entomologist. Sure enough, he was in his office examining insect larvae. He glanced up when he saw Brennan walk into his room.

"Did you need something Dr. B.?"

"I was in the Lincoln exhibit yesterday and noticed in one of the cases a ring once owned by John Wilkes Booth."

"Ah yes, the engagement ring," Hodgins said with a smile. "What did you want to know about it?"

"Is it owned by the Cantilever Group or does the museum own it?"

"Technically the museum owns the piece, but there is a clause in place that the ring will be returned to a descendant if one should emerge, but since we both know that John Wilkes Booth never had kids there's really no way for that to happen. Why did you want to know?"

"How did you come across the ring?"

"Well," he said and turned his full attention onto Brennan, "About ten or eleven years ago there was word out that a pawn shop here in DC had this ring. I didn't think much of it, but there was a rock solid provenance for it, so I had the Cantilever Group purchase it. I didn't really have a need for it, so I donated it to the museum."

"And if someone descending from John Wilkes Booth came forward the ring would go to them?"

"Yeah, why?"

"What if someone was representing them to keep their anonymity?"

"That's not really part of the contract. Do you know something you're not telling..." Hodgins eyes grew large as he put two and two together. "Are you saying that Booth is the person? Oh man, that explains so much!"

"Hodgins please, he doesn't like anyone to know about his ancestry." Brennan looked at Hodgins and waited for his response. He crossed his arms and looked past her, thinking.

"I'll see what I can do, but I can't promise anything without Booth claiming it himself."

"Thank you."

"No problem Dr. B. I'll get right on it once I finish with this analysis." She nodded and left him to his work. There was still a lot to think about regarding her relationship with Booth, but no matter what trepidations she had, she could at least return a piece of his history to Booth.


	14. Chapter 14

"Booth, I was hoping to catch you before you spoke with the Deputy Director." Booth glanced up as his boss, Andrew Hacker stepped into his office.  
"You know, most people at least knock before they enter someone else's office. It's a little thing that I like to call common courtesy."  
Hacker looked at Booth for a moment and it was on the tip of his tongue to reprimand the agent, but considering the decision that Booth had to make, that wouldn't be the most savvy of moves.  
"I apologize Agent Booth. I saw the door open and assumed that you were welcoming in visitors and associates. Have you made your decision about whether or not to work with the organized crime division?"  
"I have, yes. Did you need something or..." Booth looked at his boss, waiting for him to get to the point.  
"Are you going to take the job or are you planning to stay with major crimes?"  
"You'll find out once I speak with the Deputy Director. Is there anything else that I can help you with?"  
"I hope that my...suggestion that you show us what you can do with your little mind chip hasn't been a factor in your decision. I truly think that your work is best served here."  
"I'm sure you do. You've made the point quite often that my work has done wonders for your career." Booth stood up from his desk and smoothed down his tie. He held the gaze of his boss as he headed for the door to his office. "Now if you don't mind sir, I have a meeting to get to so..." Booth motioned to the door and Hacker preceded him out of the office. Andrew really hated it when the agent was so close lipped about everything. From the reports he received occasionally from Dr. Sweets, Booth was just as reluctant to divulge information during their sessions as he was to anyone else. Maybe that was part of what made Booth such a good agent, but then again it was incredibly hard to get a read on the former sniper. Hopefully he'd stay with major crimes, but there really was no telling what the agent was thinking.  
Booth put the Director from his mind as soon as he stepped out of the office. Hacker was a doofus and he'd stand by that thought for as long as he worked with the man. Sure he was politically savvy but he was an ass to those under him. It didn't help of course that he'd made a play for Temperance and the two had dated for a few weeks. That put him on the same respect level that Booth had for all of the men excepting himself that Brennan dated. That is to say, he had none. No one understood Temperance the way that he did and she had the most amazing ability to make the wrong choice when it came to men. Thank God she'd finally come to her senses and gave him a chance.  
His thoughts occupied him all the way to the Deputy Director's office where he jolted out of them by the appreciative 'Now that's an ass you could bounce a quarter off of', from the secretary. She eyed him with a little smile, and the absurd thought that the attention wouldn't be so forthcoming if he had a ring on his finger crossed his mind. I have got to get the thought of marrying Bones off of my mind, he thought as he waited for the Deputy Director to acknowledge that he was there. I love her, but I'm only kidding myself if I think that I can change that.  
"Booth, I'm so glad to see you here," the Deputy Director said and held his hand out to invite Booth into his office. "I hope you've had the chance to make up your mind."  
"Yes sir, I talked with my partner about the job offer and have come with a decision."  
"Glad to hear it son," the older man said as they both sat. "Now, what is it that you've decided to do?"  
"Well first of all I have to say that I would be a fool to turn down the offer of Director of the Organized Crime division, but I am very satisfied with my current position."  
"So you're turning down the promotion? There aren't many people who would do that you know. It's not a good career move."  
"I realize that sir which is why I think I have a solution for the problem."  
"A solution? Well, you certainly have my attention." Booth smiled at the older man who'd taken Kirby's place after the incident with Max Keenan and laid out his plan.

XxXxX

"Honey, what a welcome surprise," Max said as Temperance slid into a booth across from him at the Royal Diner. The diner was still a favorite place to go for quick meals on work days, but the evenings of Booth and the squints had tended toward Founding Fathers. Max's eyes crinkled in happy warmth as he looked at his daughter. "I take it that Booth took care of Parker's teacher?"  
"Yes, he had a long talk with the principal about the unprofessional behavior of Mr. Heck while on a field trip with the kids."  
"I wish I could have been there. That would have been a sight to see. Now, to what do I owe seeing you more than one day in a row?" Max asked as the waitress set down coffee for him and ice tea for Temperance.  
"How did you know that you wanted to marry mom?"  
"Booth finally manned up and asked you to marry him did he? You know, for a while I thought he was gay and that's the reason that he wasn't dating you."  
"And knowing you, you probably told him that didn't you?"  
"I'll admit that I did mention it to him, but how could he not be interested in someone as beautiful and smart as you are?"  
"You never answered my question."  
"I knew the first moment that I saw your mother that she was who I would spend the rest of my life with."  
"But that's impossible. I'm sure that you found her sexually attractive and she was quite symetrically pleasing to look at but there's no way that you could have known..."  
"Honey, I'm willing to bet that if you asked Booth the same question he'd give you the same answer."  
"That's ridiculous. Booth and I hated each other when we first met and it took over a year for us to work together a second time."  
"Is it your opinion that he hated you or is that your hypothesis based on your view of some event that happened between the two of you?"  
Brennan thought about the question as the waitress placed their lunch down before them. Were they really at the diner enough that the wait staff knew their orders? She put her thoughts back where they needed to be. She thought back to her first case with Booth and meeting him in the lecture hall at American University. She'd presumed that he was a student at the university and once he told her his purpose in tracking her down she'd agreed to the challenge of working with him. She found him to be a bit condescending, but oh so pleasing to look at, and the night that he fired her and their kiss...  
"I changed the relationship between Booth and me."  
"Oh? How so?"  
We..." for once Temperance wasn't quite sure how to phrase her answer. "I assumed that he got me drunk to fire me from the case that I was assisting with and I began to argue with him."  
"You put up that shield of armor, didn't you?"  
"I don't think that it should matter now. Booth and i are together now, just like everyone thought that we would be and everything is fine."  
"Honey, you don't sound convinced. If Booth didn't ask you to marry him, then why did you want to know about your mother and I?"  
"Last night," she said and then paused. She was never one to avoid talking about subjects no matter how uncomfortable it was because it was her opinion that you should always be honest about everything. It also didn't occur to her that maybe her father wouldn't want to hear about her having sex with Booth despite his past interest in the relationship. "Last night after Booth and I had sex, we shared a dream in which I announced that I was pregnant and he proposed to me. When I woke up this morning, I found that my reaction to the idea of marriage scared me even when Booth insisted that the proposal portion of the dream was mine and not his."  
"And after you talked about this to Booth, what did he say?"  
"He said that he wasn't going to ask when he knew that I wasn't ready for that step and that when I was, I should let him know."  
"Okay, so what's the problem?"  
"If I dreamed of a proposal is it indicative of something that I want or that I'm scared of?"  
"I guess it all depends on whether or not the dream scared you. Personally I think that you've been on your own for so long that you can't imagine making that kind of commitment even when you have no reason to say no to the guy. Give yourself time honey. Booth is a great guy, and anyone who could put up with having criminals in his family has to be worth something, right?"  
"I'll think about it. Right now I have to get back to work. Why don't you come over this weekend and have dinner with Booth and me?"  
"I'd love to Tempe. I'll see you then." Max smiled as she got up and leaned down to kiss his cheek. God bless you Booth for opening her up so much to life.

XxXxX

Andrew Hacker stared at his office with a frown. He couldn't believe that within two weeks it would no longer be his. How Booth worked the switch he would never know, but in the political environment that Directors had to negotiate, guys like Booth never lasted. Still, Organized Crime was nothing to sneeze at so he shouldn't complain, but he wasn't the one that was supposed to be there.  
At a soft knock on the door, Hacker turned to look at the agent taking his place as head of Major Crimes.  
"I don't know how you did it Booth, but congratulations."  
"Thank you sir. I just wanted to stop by before I left to give you my congratulations on your lateral move as well. I'm sure you'll do wonders with the guys in Organized Crime."  
"Yes well we'll see. As soon as your current cases are reassigned then you'll begin training with me for the position."  
"Yes sir."  
"Enough with the sirs Director Booth. We're equals now." Andrew held out his hand and Booth took it. "I expect you're going to take Dr. Brennan out for dinner to celebrate. Give her my best and I'll see you tomorrow."  
Booth nodded and headed out to the office. He did indeed plan to take Temperance out to dinner, and while he would no longer be working directly with the Jeffersonian team, he would have control over who worked with them and he planned to let the team make the final decision. He smiled as he pulled out his phone to call Brennan. Things were going so great for him that he felt it was almost criminal. Of course that's when everything usually got pulled out from underneath you, and at that moment Booth could have no idea how true that would be.


End file.
